Illusions of Permanence
by TheDVirus
Summary: Semi-sequel:'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. Bunny's planet was devoured centuries ago by the forces of the Nightmare King leaving him as the sole survivor. But now, his nightmares prompt an epic voyage through the cold reaches of shadow space. With a reluctant Pitch as their guide, North, Bunny and Jack search for Bunny's planet and along the way, discover the true meaning of 'home'.
1. A Spectre at the Party

_The planet was burning.  
The blackened trees were twisting and writhing like massive skeletal fingers rising from the cracking earth. The elegant buildings of the cities were crumbling like wet sand as monstrous inky shapes clung to them shrieking and convulsing.  
The grey wind tasted like iron, small shards of debris stinging his eyes and cutting his cheeks.  
There were screams on the air and a terrible laughter rising and falling like the rush of a vast ocean.  
The stars were going out above and the planet shook with the sound of fleeing footsteps.  
The darkness was not coming.  
The darkness was already here.  
The warning bells were a funeral knell, ringing out as a soundtrack to the carnival of madness surrounding him.  
He couldn't save anyone.  
They were all going to die.  
And it was his fault!_

Bunny awoke.  
He felt cold and clammy despite the eternal Spring warmth of the Warren.  
As he rose shakily, he felt sweat sticking his fur to the grass of his bed.  
Another nightmare.  
The same one every night.  
But it was okay.  
He was safe. At home.  
Home?  
Home was far away and long ago.  
It was lost to him forever.  
His chest felt tight and he took deep calming breaths to ease the ache.  
He would meditate, perform some light stretching then try to get some shut-eye.  
As he had done every single night for the last month.  
Ever since that little witch Cupid had stuck him with that arrow full of Pitch's stinking powers, he had not had a solid night's sleep.  
He ran a hand over his face.  
His eyes alighted on an elegant looking piece of card sitting on a nearby rock.  
It had arrived a little before sundown and usually Bunny would have been glad to get it.  
But the way he felt right now…  
He crossed his legs and settled onto the grass, focusing on his racing heart.  
He really wasn't in a party mood.

'I'm really not in the party mood', Pitch said sourly.  
A cheery looking elf waved at him from the front of the invitation he was holding. It's little legs made of string kicked maniacally as he turned the card over, scowling at the glitter coating his fingertips.  
It was an invitation to a get together at North's workshop that night.  
His name had been written carefully in black fountain pen across the front and the card had arrived in a black envelope an hour ago.  
Jack had not even managed to step away from the lair entrance before Pitch had leapt out and collared him as North's nominated delivery boy.  
At least the card had stopped playing music once Pitch had ripped the little sound piece out.  
Jack sat beside him, legs dangling over the edge of the balcony.

'You not in the party mood? What a surprise', Jack joked, 'Relax, I already told you Cupid won't be there'.

Pitch had steadfastly declined the comfy beanbags scattered around the treehouse in favour of restless pacing, eyes locked on the card. Jack found it quite amusing: it was as if Pitch was trying to read the paper elf's mind.

'Why invite me anyway?' Pitch asked, pointedly ignoring Jack's joke, 'Though I admit a formal invitation is better than being stuffed in a sack and dragged there by force'.

Jack knew North didn't expect Pitch to show up.  
But with what Pitch had done at Halloween and then at Valentine's Day the month before, North had said it 'didn't feel right' to exclude him.

'Perhaps Pitch is not what we thought', North had said, 'I do not think Tooth would call him a 'friend' if he was in fact a 'fiend' do you?'

North was an optimist, simple as that: always trying to be fair.  
It was probably Pitch's lack of these qualities that was confusing him.

'We said we were sorry about the sack thing', Jack said with a hint of weariness.

You didn't hear him going on about his treatment the first time he had been inside the North Pole.  
He stood up and dusted the seat of his trousers.

'Pitch, this is North we are talking about', Jack said calmly, 'You actually think that guy is capable of having ulterior motives? He does this dinner every year and with everything that's happened, he just thought he'd invite you that's all'.

'Well you can save him the trouble in future', Pitch said, crumpling up the card.

Jack sighed.  
Couldn't blame North for trying.  
He noticed though that Pitch was still holding the card.  
He stifled a smile and thought fast.

'Shame', he said, careful not to be too over the top with his resigned tone, 'Tooth's really looking forward to it'.

Jack pretended not to notice Pitch's head perk up and continued.

'With you two both working nights it's been kinda hard to see her huh?'

Pitch stopped pacing and looked at Jack, one dark eyebrow raised.

'Are you attempting to manipulate me?' Pitch asked wryly.

Jack looked at the Boogeyman innocently. He tried to imagine a halo spontaneously materializing above his head. He ruined the effect by giving a smile that was more of a grin.

'Is it working?' Jack asked.

Pitch gave a derisive sniff and went back to frowning at the card.

' _Yeah it's working alright'_ , Jack thought to himself.

'Come on Pitch', he practically pleaded, 'Good food, a few laughs and you and Tooth get to catch up. What's not to like?'

Pitch gave a heavy sigh.  
He wasn't about to admit it but the thought of seeing Tooth sounded very pleasant indeed.  
He enjoyed their talks but they had been thin on the ground as of late: Tooth was busy overseeing expansion of some of her towers at the Tooth Palace.  
Surely he could put up with Frost, North, Sandman and even the rabbit for that?

He thrust the crumpled up card into Jack's hands and raised an imperious finger.

'I want you to listen to me Frost. If I do decide to go to this dinner (and that is a very big 'If') tell North not to make a big deal out of it'

Jack backed up as Pitch advanced on him.

'No singing. No dancing. No parading elves', Pitch said seriously, counting them on his fingers.

Jack was leaning backwards over the balcony by this stage and was relieved when Pitch straightened up and granted him the space to do likewise.

'Clear?' Pitch asked.

Jack used his fingers to flash him a cheery 'OK' sign.

'Crystal', he promised.

As soon as Pitch and Tooth entered, there was explosion of colour.

Confetti rained down on the pair, landing like snow on their hair and head feathers respectively.  
It had erupted from a golden horn that an elf was blowing hard into, a triumphant fanfare blaring into the room.  
The enthusiasm in the music waned as the elf noticed a pair of yellow eyes staring at him with undisguised irritation before the tune died altogether with an undignified warble.

Tooth, undeterred by the faltering entrance music, whooped in delight and tried to catch some strands with one hand.  
She used the other to gently touch Pitch's arm to quiet the growl rising from his throat.

'It's okay Pitch', she said, smiling up at him, 'Everybody gets this. See?'

Pitch followed Tooth's pointing finger and saw Sandy standing a few feet away. His hair had been blown to one side by the force of the music and he was twiddling a finger in his ear. He had been plastered with so much colourful confetti that he looked like a golden ice cream dollop covered in sprinkles.

'Maybe we shouldn't have let him go in ahead of us', Tooth mused, concern creeping into her voice.

'We were only being polite', Pitch smirked, feeling a little better.  
Schadenfreude was a truly wonderful thing.

'And we are going to keep being polite. Right?'

'I promised I'd try didn't I?' Pitch said.

He had shown up on time.  
He had opened the door for her.  
He had even brushed his teeth before coming _and_ had breath mints in his robe!  
What more could she expect him to do?!

'Yes you did promise', Tooth agreed, 'Remember our contract?'

The contract is question had been a small piece of parchment Tooth had presented to him before they had entered the workshop.  
Basically it had outlined the expectations of Pitch for the evening vis a vis trying to be pleasant, non-violent and trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. Tooth had drawn attention to the emphasis on the repeated use of the word 'trying': she didn't expect miracles, just sincere effort.  
The reason Sandy had been able to enter first had been that Pitch had refused to sign as he hadn't a pen to hand. Tooth had produced one that had been tucked behind her ear. Pitch had then insisted on reading the small print. He had gotten halfway down the third paragraph before he realised he could no longer feel his toes and signed it out of simple self-preservation.

'First rule of business; get everything in writing', Tooth said, leading the way into the room.

North had a roaring fire going in the great hearth. The globe in the centre of the workshop was shining golden, bathing the room in warm light. Colourful streamers hung from the rafters and wondrous, decorative mechanical birds twittered and glided overhead. Pitch could hear the distant echoes of North's voice from elsewhere in the workshop: no doubt preparing the actual dinner while his guests got warmed up.  
The desired welcoming effect was somewhat spoilt for Pitch however due to some sullen glances in his direction from some of North's 'staff'. Yetis stiffened as they noticed him and he saw the hairs on their necks stand up. The scuttling elves wandering here and there parted like the Red Sea as he approached.  
Tooth was deliberately ignoring it: Pitch knew she was too smart not to notice.

'Let's get mingling', Tooth said as she noticed Pitch catch up with her.

'Yes. After all I can't stay too long', Pitch said.

'Why?' Tooth asked, 'You have somewhere else to be?'

'I'm just concerned I won't find a windmill to climb before they light their torches', Pitch deadpanned.

Tooth shook her head in exasperation but not without fondness before something caught her eye.

'Oh look, there's Bunny!' she said, waving.

Just one look at Bunny told Pitch he would not be welcome if he accompanied Tooth and he knew it would be unfair to ruin her desire for a conversation.  
He did not have to look long for a distraction.

'Oh look, there's a buffet', Pitch said to himself and headed for a long table heaped with hors d'oeuvreson silver trays.

'Hi Bunny', Tooth said in greeting.

Bunny shook his head and rubbed his eyes.  
It bothered him he hadn't heard her approach.

'Tooth, how are ya?' he asked, giving her a hug.

'Fine thanks', Tooth beamed, making note of Bunny's raw looking eyes, 'North's really outdone himself this time huh?'

Bunny was staring at the floor.

'Bunny? Bunny?!' Tooth said, clicking her fingers.

Bunny jumped, eyes wide.

'Huh?'

'Are you okay?' Tooth asked kindly.

Even with his dark markings, Tooth could see shadowy bags under Bunny's eyes. His whiskers were crooked and his ears were drooping, as if he had no energy to lift them.

'Yeah yeah', Bunny said waving a hand, 'Just had a bit of a rough night is all. Nightmares ya know?'

'You sure you're up to this?' Tooth asked, 'You look exhausted'.

She had never seen Bunny look so tired.  
Even at Easter when he had lost his powers he had been more animated.  
Now he was smiling but it was like melting snow: weak and transient.

'C'mon Tooth, wasn't gonna miss North's annual shindig. It's nice for everyone to get together ya know?'

There was a slight clatter from the buffet table.  
An elf had accidentally dropped a pile of sausage rolls off the tray it had been carrying and onto the floor.  
Pitch was holding one of the rolls and was looking at it suspiciously. He looked at the elf and asked a question. The elf flinched, holding its now empty platter up like a shield. Tooth was too far away to hear what was being said.  
Bunny was not similarly handicapped.  
Pitch's question was whether the sausage roll actually had any meat in it.  
The elf nodded at first but at Pitch's continued cynical stare, this changed to a sorrowful shaking of the head. Pitch made a disgusted face and placed the sausage roll he had been holding back on the elf's empty platter. The elf, visibly grateful for Pitch's dismissal hopped off the table and crawled under the tablecloth.

'Yep. Everyone', Bunny said resentfully.

Tooth touched Bunny's shoulder. She hid a wince at the feeling of the matted fur under her fingers. Bunny hadn't groomed himself today: his fur was usually so soft.

'I promise Bunny', she said, 'Pitch isn't the way he used to be. I'm not saying he's perfect. But he's trying'.

Bunny made a non-committal noise.

'Maybe he could help you with your nightmare problem?' Tooth offered, seeing a chance to establish common ground between the two.

Bunny's ears pricked up at that but for an entirely different reason.  
It made sense.  
Pitch's powers caused this. He could stop it.  
Hell, he might even be bloody well causing it!

'Maybe he could', Bunny said and crossed the room.

'Pitch', Bunny nodded curtly.

'Bunnymund', Pitch responded.

'Food's pretty great huh?' Bunny asked with an attempt at light heartedness.

Pitch nodded.  
Why did the rabbit look so weary? And when was the last time he had bathed?

'Makes a change from those rotten cockroaches eh?' Bunny laughed.

Pitch's eyes narrowed.  
Was he making fun of him?!  
No. He was overreacting. Too used to seeing Guardians as enemies.

'Makes a change from rabbit', Pitch said with his own attempt at light heartedness.

His attempt worked as well as Bunny's had. In that it didn't.

'Hey! I'm just tryin' to be friendly!' Bunny said, trying to smother the incredulity in his voice.

The rabbit was really starting to bug Pitch: no matter what he said the Guardian of Hope seemed determined to have a problem with him!  
If that was the case, why speak to him at all?!

'I see that', Pitch responded, 'You're failing'.

He chose a small sandwich and eyed it critically.  
Bunny ignored Pitch's obvious signal that the conversation was concluded.  
When Pitch saw Bunny fold his arms out of the corner of his eye, he knew he wasn't going to leave him in peace.

'Do you need something?' Pitch asked wearily before taking a bite of the sandwich.

It took most of Bunny's meditation techniques no to punch Pitch in the face right then and there.  
Could he really have something to do with these nightmares?!  
Why?!  
Just to laugh about it?!

'I haven't been sleeping well Pitch', Bunny said tersely, 'Know why?'

Pitch put down his sandwich and poured himself a drink of what smelt like mulled wine.  
' _Just stay calm'_ , he thought to himself, ' _Don't bite. No matter how satisfying it would be'._

'Too much chocolate?' Pitch asked, studying his drink intently.

'Yeah right. I've been havin' nightmares Pitch', Bunny said coldly, 'And they haven't been little 'uns'.

'Sadly nothing to do with me', Pitch said off-handedly.

Bunny thumped a fist on the table.

'As a matter of fact they are. Do you remember my planet?'

Pitch felt a vein in his forehead begin to throb.  
So that was it.  
Some fresh start!

' _He started this'_ , he snarled internally, ' _Whatever comes next, it's not my fault!'_

'Odd, you think I would remember a planet full of giant talking rabbits', Pitch said with a vicious smirk, 'They're rare enough nowadays'.

Bunny took a step forward. He was taller than Pitch and seemed determined to let him know it. Pitch could see himself reflected in Bunny's watery, tired eyes.

'Maybe you didn't get a good look at it before you destroyed it. You may have forgotten Pitch but I haven't'.

Bunny cast a glance over his shoulder.  
Tooth was talking to Sandy, taking no notice of the brewing trouble at the buffet.

'Doesn't matter if the others think you've shed yer skin', Bunny growled, 'underneath a snake's still a snake'.

Pitch set his goblet down with a sharp _clank_. He turned to regard Bunny fully, eyes narrowed.

'Rabbits are afraid of snakes', he said in a low, cool voice, 'Shall we test that?'

'That an invitation?' Bunny asked, a humourless smile on his face.  
He cracked his knuckles.

'I believe it's called a 'threat'', Pitch said, lip curling, 'You're just too ignorant to spot the difference'.

Both of them were smiling at each other. Neither smile reached the wearer's eyes.  
An elf that had been approaching them with cookies on a tray took one look at the developing situation and backed away slowly.

'Let's settle this outside', Bunny said quietly, 'Don't wanna spoil the party'.

'We're not', Pitch retorted, 'We're just moving it outside. Let's see how well you dance rabbit'.

A shrill whistle stopped them both.  
Sandy was tapping a foot irritably. Behind him on the other side of the room, Tooth was hovering, watching closely.  
Pitch flounced away to join Tooth and Jack.  
He was not in the mood for a lecture through sand Pictionary.  
That left Bunny with Sandy.  
Sandy pointed to North's image above the fireplace before sweeping a hand around the room.  
Bunny got the message: _Don't ruin North's party. Whatever it is, it can wait._

'Sorry Sandy', Bunny said sheepishly, 'I'll keep a lid on it'.

Sandy patted his paw. His eyes were concerned as he conjured some dreamsand.  
He pointed at it then at Bunny before pretending to fall asleep. He opened his eyes after a few seconds and stretched, smiling, obviously satisfied from the improvised snooze.  
A question mark appeared above his head.  
Bunny realised Tooth must have told Sandy to check on him. Who better to help him gets some much needed sleep?

'Thanks mate', Bunny said, smiling gratefully, 'Some dreamsand might just do the trick'.

Sandy pretended to check an invisible watch on his wrist. He looked at Bunny expectantly and opened his arms questioningly.

'How long?' Bunny interpreted, 'I dunno. About a month. Nightmare's the same every time. You think there's something more to it?'

Sandy looked pensive.

'What was that all about?' Tooth asked as Pitch re-joined her.

Pitch blunted the cutting remark he had been preparing upon seeing Tooth's expression.  
She was worried.

'Discussing the laws of nature', Pitch said and added under his breath, 'Namely the food chain'.

'Speaking of food, I'm starving!' came a voice.

Jack landed between Tooth and Pitch. Judging from the excessive snow dusting the shoulders of his jacket, he had just arrived.

'Nice shoes Jack', Tooth giggled.

Pitch laughed too: he couldn't help himself.  
Jack was wearing blue soft looking slippers with bells at the end of the curly toes. They jingled slightly as Jack moved his feet.

'Yeah well, I promised North I wouldn't disappoint the elves', he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

' _I know the feeling'_ , Pitch thought.

A tinkling noise attracted their attention.  
An officious looking yeti was ringing a tiny bell held proudly between two thick leathery fingers.  
Once he was certain all were paying attention, he bowed and opened large wooden double doors.  
They could hear North's laughter beyond it.  
Sandy floated past them, followed by Bunny who gave Frost a friendly slap on the back.  
He didn't acknowledge Pitch.  
This suited Pitch just fine.

'Shall we go in?' Tooth asked.

Pitch bowed and waved a hand towards the door magnanimously.

'Ladies first'.

Tooth laughed and flitted after Bunny and Sandy.

'That includes you Frost', Pitch smirked.

'Hardy har', Jack said, rolling his eyes, 'Seriously though Pitch, I'm proud of you'.

He playfully punched Pitch on the arm. Pitch raised an eyebrow slowly.

'In here. Socializing. Makin' friends'.

'Not with everybody', Pitch said quietly.

'Hey, it's gonna be fine. I got your back!' Jack said reassuringly before swapping to a childlike tone, 'Now try and behave in there okay?'

Pitch half-heartedly tried to grab him but Jack was already beyond his reach.  
He stuck his head back out of the door and winked at Pitch.

'Or no dessert!'


	2. Homeward Bound

'Welcome friends! I am not one for speeches so will get straight down to tacks of brass. Eat, drink and make merry for tonight you dine!'

Polite applause greeted North's short introduction.  
He stood at the head of a long table with a place set for each guest.  
The room was warm thanks to the fire blazing in the carved fireplace set into the wall.  
Jack gave several shrill whistles and Sandy tapped the butts of his knife and fork on the table to signal his anticipation.  
The table was loaded with food: a whole turkey with all the trimmings, a massive cornucopia filled with fruit and a large steaming baked fish were just some of the dishes on offer.  
His duties as host concluded, North retook his seat and began to tuck into a turkey leg with relish. Occasionally he incongruously dabbed his beard delicately with his napkin.  
Jack was in the process of constructing a multi layered sandwich.  
Sandy was marvelling at Jack's creative process as he sipped his soup quietly beside him. He wondered if Jack could unhinge his jaw.  
Pitch rarely ate fresh food and was not sure of his preference for taste, save that he enjoyed meat. So, he had selected relatively unadventurous things to being with: turkey slices and a few cocktail sausages.  
Beside him, Tooth, favouring fruit, was enjoying a colourful salad she had made herself.  
Directly across from Tooth, Bunny had not touched the plate of lettuce and carrots he had chosen.  
He was on his third glass of wine.  
It surprised him he hadn't thought of it before.  
Nothing like a dose of bubbly to knock someone out.  
His head was splitting already so what further harm could a hangover do?

'Bunny, slow down a bit eh? Don't want you ending up under table!' North laughed.

Bunny smiled with great effort and it seemed to satisfy North.  
He directed his attention to Pitch.

'So glad you could come Pitch', North smiled, 'How do you like everything?'

Pitch swallowed his mouthful and became aware that several pairs of eyes were on him thanks to North's question.

'It's lovely', Pitch said, self-conscious that he had never had a friendly conversation with the Russian before, 'Thank you for the invitation'.

Tooth touched his leg under the table and Pitch felt his face flush at the contact.

'It was least I could do after all your help at Valentine's Day', North said.

'Well…I spent most of it brainwashed just like the rest of you', Pitch responded, 'I don't know if I helped exactly-'

'But you helped Tooth when we could not', North interjected warmly, 'For that we are all grateful'.

He raised his mug in salute.  
Sandy and Jack, taking the hint raised theirs too.  
Pitch squirmed in his seat as Tooth raised her glass.  
He didn't know what to do with himself.  
He had already said 'thank you' but that was in regards to being invited. Would he be repeating himself if he said 'thank you' again?  
North's voice cut through his anxious thoughts.

'Come Bunny, join us!'

'In what?' came an angry retort.

Everyone stared at Bunny.  
Bunny downed another drink and twirled the stem of his glass.

'In a toast of course!' North said, seemingly unaffected by Bunny's lacklustre attitude, 'To second chances!'

'Yeah. Okay', Bunny said bitterly.

He stood up and picked up a nearby wine bottle.  
It spilled over his fingers as he refilled his glass.  
He cleared his throat.  
Jack, Sandy and Tooth shared confused glances.  
Pitch's eyes narrowed as he met Bunny's defiant stare.

'Here's to Pitch Black', Bunny said grandly, 'Without whom we would not all be sitting here today'.

North nodded and began to take a drink.  
But Bunny had not finished.

'Especially Sandy', he muttered, 'Who wouldn't be here at all'.

Everybody heard him.  
North gagged on his mouthful and had a brief coughing fit.  
Sandy slapped his own forehead.  
Jack inhaled sharply.

'Okay', Jack said, trying to keep the peace, 'Thanks Bunny. Let's sit down and-'

'And what?' Bunny asked with a humourless laugh, 'Pretend this is perfectly normal?'

'Let. Him. Speak', Pitch said through gritted teeth.

His nails were digging into the arms of his chair.  
Tooth couldn't figure out what to do and unfortunately Bunny seemed to be building up steam.

'Why thank you Pitch! Almost makes me forget that you've spent the last hundred… two hundred… heck, I've lost count! How many years _have_ you been scaring the living daylights outta kids Pitch?! Making all our jobs harder?!'

'Bunny', North barked.  
The obvious warning in North's voice should have been a red flag but Bunny did not seem to notice.  
Sandy and Jack's heads were swivelling between Pitch and Bunny like spectators at a tennis match.

'Yet here we are havin' a tea party with him as the bleedin' guest of honour! Well I hope you enjoy it Pitch 'cause hope's what I'm all about'.

Bunny waved his arm carelessly but dropped his glass.  
It shattered on the floor.  
This seemed to snap him out of his rant.  
He finally seemed to notice the shocked looks on everyone's faces.  
Where had all that come from?  
He felt nauseous and his heart was racing: he'd definitely had too much to drink.

'Sorry North', Bunny said, shoulders sagging, 'I-I don't know what's wrong with me'.

He began to sit down.

'I know what's wrong with you', Pitch said quietly.

Bunny stopped dead.

'You don't know when to keep your mouth shut', Pitch said airily.

Tooth shook her head in disbelief but Pitch ignored her.  
The rabbit wanted a scene, he'd give him one.

'What?' Bunny asked in a dangerous, low voice.

'Sit down before you say something else you regret', Pitch said coldly, 'Treat yourself. Have another drink'.

The tension in Bunny finally exploded.

'The only thing I regret is not doing this sooner!' Bunny snarled.

Pitch bared his teeth when he saw there was suddenly a boomerang in Bunny's hand.  
Jack gave a wordless shout and North slammed his mug down.  
Sandy's eyes widened.

'Bunny stop!' Tooth yelled.

Suddenly, Bunny gasped in pain and began to twitch. His plate crashed to the floor as his arms flailed wildly. His eyes were rolling back in his head and his mouth gaped like that of a beached fish.  
North, Sandy, Tooth and Jack leapt from their chairs.  
Pitch realised the reason for the rabbit's aggression instantly.  
The nightmares.  
Bunny swung the hand holding the boomerang at them and shouted in wordless fear.  
Pitch remained seated. He could sense Bunny was not seeing his friends. He was seeing whatever terrors tormented him in the night and was desperate to keep them away.  
Pitch lost patience when Bunny's boomerang nearly clipped Tooth's cheek as she tried to stop his thrashing.  
There was no time to explain what had to be done.

'That's enough!' Pitch snarled and flung his hand out.

A blast of shadows erupted from his fingertips and enveloped Bunny's head like an attacking octopus. It caught Bunny by surprise. Bunny's boomerang fell from his hand and clattered onto the floor as Bunny began to claw at the black mass covering his face.  
Pitch swiftly rose and began to move his arm back in a pulling motion.

'What are you doing?!' Jack cried, 'Let him go!'

Pitch ignored him.  
Jack began to panic as he saw Bunny's fingers begin to spasm and his movements grow weaker.  
North had already leapt the table was trying to pull Pitch back.  
He was grunting with the effort. Pitch, having anticipated resistance had used his powers to anchor himself to the long, heavy table.

'Pitch! I said 'let him go'!' Jack shouted, staff gleaming coldly, 'Now!'

'Jack! North!' Tooth shouted, moving between Jack and Pitch, 'Look!'

Something was emerging from the centre of Bunny's head as Pitch continued to pull.  
A black bubble was rising to the surface. Its oil like surface showed distorted images as it caught the light. It began to move towards Pitch, stretching like a piece of black chewing gum.  
It reminded Jack of drawing poison from a wound: as he drew the comparison he realised what Tooth meant.

'Tooth knows! You need to pull problems out', Pitch said, straining with effort as he pulled, 'By. The. Root!'

The strand snapped and Pitch and North were both thrown backwards as the tension vanished.  
The shadows vanished from Bunny's face as he collapsed onto the floor insensate.  
The extracted black bubble hung in the air.  
It spun once, twice then burst open, the two halves continuing to levitate.

A dark cloud enveloped the room and a great wind erupted out of nowhere. The tablecloth whipped and flapped in the fierce gusts.  
Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing.  
It was as if they were no longer in North's dining room.

Around them, the branches of blackened dead trees groaned in the wind. The grass beneath Jack's feet was brown and dead, mud squelching between his toes.  
He spat reflexively as he tasted iron in his mouth.  
Where those screams he could hear?! Where were they coming from?!  
Desperately looking around for help, he spotted Sandy a few feet away.  
He tried calling to him but he couldn't even hear his own voice!

Sandy recognised the nightmare for what it was instantly. He tried to begin the ritual to cleanse it into dreamsand but was caught fast in the nightmare's constricting aura. His arms felt heavy and weak even as he struggled to form the signs.

North could see shadowy shapes running past him and heard a sound like thunder rumble above like a giant's laughter. He saw a figure, smaller than the rest stumble and fall.  
He tried to reach for the child (what else could it be?) but even as he watched, he saw a shadow looming over it. Something falling.  
He tried to shout for help: he could do nothing else even as he saw the child like figure vanish beneath a mound of rubble from a damaged building.

Tooth was huddled on the floor, the breeze making it impossible for her to fly.  
She cracked open her eyes, shielding them from the wind with her arms and saw Pitch ahead of her.  
Unlike her and the others, he was unmoved by the wind.  
He was looking up in at what had formerly been North's ceiling, eyes darting as if trying to pin down an irksome insect.

Suddenly, Pitch leapt up and reached for the orb, immune to the nightmare's paralytic effects.  
Pitch grabbed the remains of the bubble and crammed them back together, squishing them between his fingers.  
He knelt as if it were a large creature he was trying to choke into submission.  
He was whispering something into his cupped fingers but it was hurried and not in any language anybody in the room could have translated even if they could have heard it.  
As Pitch's incantation slowed, light began to cut through the nightmare.  
Like steam on glass, it began to fade, the reality of North's dining room bleeding through the darkness.  
Just before it vanished completely, a disembodied, unfamiliar voice echoed around the walls.

' _Come back to us Aster. Come home. You are our last hope…'_

'What _was_ that?!' North asked.

Pitch opened his cupped hands in answer to the question.  
A small black horse whinnied as it pawed the skin of Pitch's hand.

'That thing we saw was one of Bunny's nightmares?' Jack asked, astonished, 'It's tiny'.

Pitch got to his feet, swaying slightly.  
Tooth helped him to steady himself.

'Leave a nightmare in someone's head and it can turn poisonous', Pitch explained, 'It's under control now. I've absorbed most of it'.

'Sorry for the grabbing', North said, embarrassed and shaken by what they had all just witnessed.

Pitch nodded curtly, petting the nightmare gently with one finger.

'Is Bunny gonna be okay?' Jack asked, staring at his friend's unconscious form. 

Bunny lay where he had fallen.  
North picked him up and placed him into a nearby armchair.  
Sandy felt Bunny's forehead and touched two fingers to his neck before nodding at Jack.  
Conjuring a dreamsand fan: he began to wave it to cool Bunny down.

'Why was it so strong Sandy?' North asked.

Sandy tried to select appropriate pictures to explain but Pitch interjected.

'Sometimes dreams are more than dreams. They're messages. Something or someone was trying to use this nightmare to tell him something. It didn't all come from inside his head'.

Sandy nodded at Pitch's explanation, looking impressed and somewhat relieved he had not needed to explain the concept.

'But where did the message come from?' North asked.

Sandy formed a series of golden stars that got bigger and bigger until they covered the entire room.  
Golden planets zipped by them and galaxies swirled and glittered.  
Pitch sheltered the little nightmare under the fingers of one hand to protect it from being purified by the granules. He rarely got to study recurring nightmares.

'Space?' Jack interpreted, 'But what could be out there?'

'My home'.

They turned at the sound of a weak voice.  
Bunny's eyes were bleary as he rubbed his head.  
North brought him a mug from the table.  
It was filled with hot chocolate.  
He guided it into Bunny's paws. Bunny accepted it gratefully and took a sip.

'Sorry everyone', he said, licking the chocolate from his lips, 'Didn't mean to ruin things. Don't know what came over me: felt like something was trying to burst outta my skull'.

'It was', North said, 'One nasty nightmare. How do you feel now?'

'I feel like a horse has kicked me in the head. Fitting right?'

'You said something about your home', Jack prompted, intrigued by the emerging scenario.

'You just saw what happened to it', Bunny said sadly.

Jack lowered his eyes. That nightmare had been horrible.

'Where was it?' he asked, 'It looked strange'.

'Oh, I forgot you wouldn't know. Jack, that wasn't Earth. It was my home planet'.

'You're from another planet?!' Jack cried.

'That's right', Bunny said with a fond smile, 'It didn't have a name though'.

'Why?' Jack asked, eager to hear more.

'We just never bothered to give it one', Bunny said, 'Our job was to oversee other planets. It seemed more important to name them since we were helping them grow'.

'What exactly are you then?' Jack asked, 'I thought you were a regular bunny before you became a Guardian'.

'I'm what you call a 'Pooka'', Bunny said, 'I just looked like a rabbit when I was on Earth: it was my assignment. For some reason the sunlight made me shrink every time I was there but it didn't get in the way of the work. Earth never needed a lotta attention: plants grew easily, oceans had regular tides, good healthy sun and humans were smart enough to take care of themselves. Sorta boring job really. Didn't need round the clock surveillance so I just popped back occasionally to make sure everything was normal'.

'Always meant to ask how did you get to Earth so quickly? You told me your planet is long way away', North said, 'Part of the Lunar Imperium like Manny's'.

'Used a doorway', Bunny said simply but then corrected himself, 'Well it's not really a doorway. More like a… a tunnel, yeah, a tunnel between two points in space'.

'Like a Stargate?' Jack asked, looking enthralled with Bunny's story.  
He hadn't known Bunny was an alien!

'Never heard of one of those', Bunny said, scratching his head, 'Good name though. So one day I'm on Earth in the Warren (used to be the control centre) doing my usual checks when the 'star gate' starts going crazy'.

Bunny's face darkened.

'What you saw was what I saw when opened the portal to home. Before I could get through to help, the tunnel collapsed and the star gate stopped working'.

'Leaving you stranded', Tooth mused.

'And totally powerless', Bunny said, 'Eventually Sandy spotted me wandering around aimlessly. Knew I wasn't a regular rabbit soon as he saw me. Brought me to Manny who offered me a way to get back to my old self. After a little while, I was back to me old self and a Guardian to boot'.

'What about the stargate?' Jack asked, 'Couldn't you fix it?'

'I tried but I couldn't figure out how. Stopped tryin' after a while. Even Manny didn't know how to help: we had never shared our technology with other members of the Lunar Imperium. Figured even if I fixed it, who knows what horrors would be waitin' on the other side? Just tried to move on'.

'But then where is the message coming from?' North asked.

'That's what I need to find out', Bunny said determinedly.

'What are you saying?' Jack asked.

'Look guys, I love you all', Bunny said, casting his eyes around the assembly, '(well, mostly) and I love Earth. But I need to make sure. I need to see it with my own eyes. I don't know how I'm gonna get there but-'

'You mean how _'we'_ are gonna get there', Jack said.

'You sure?' Bunny asked, ears straightening.

'You're seriously asking if I'm I sure I wanna help one of my closest friends find out what happened to his home planet?' Jack asked, rolling his eyes.

'It's gonna be dangerous', Bunny warned.

'It's space Bunny. Danger's what makes it exciting', Jack said.

'Well, we can't do anything yet', Bunny said, 'Easter's only two weeks away. I need to be here'.

'Gives us time to get ready', North said, 'Have had designs for spacecraft for few decades now. Little side project I have been working on. I could pilot it: already nearly managed take off once!'

''Nearly'?' Pitch said sardonically, 'Forgot to carry a one on the 'reindeer power' calculations no doubt'.

He stifled a gasp as Tooth elbowed him in the stomach.

'Don't be silly!' North said, looking confused, 'Reindeer cannot breathe in space! Ship functions using thaumic engine I made. Powered by same energy used in snowglobes'.

'Hey, why don't we just use a snowglobe?' Jack asked.  
He thought it was a good idea. Even though it would cut out the tantalising 'space travel' part of the experience.

'Need to have an idea of where destination is', North said with regret, 'Also need to know what we are looking for'.

'And if there's something there to find', Bunny said.

'How does a thaumic engine work?' Tooth asked.  
She had always been fascinated by North's machines. The man was practically a wizard: combining earthly materials with magic to create wondrous things he designed himself. He never kept blueprints, preferring to build instinctively. This organic approach was totally at odds with Tooth's careful categorization: the main reason it intrigued her so much.

'Basically allows ship to travel vast distances in very short amount of time through sub space', North summed up.  
There was no point going into the delicacies of the thing: they'd be there all night.

Jack was smiling.  
North's tone suggested it had been no hardship at all to create what was basically a-

'Warp drive', Jack said, eyes shining, 'It's a real life warp drive!'

'Yes…yes I like sound of that!' North said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, 'Where are you getting these wonderful words?'

'Jamie's been showing me some great TV shows lately', Jack smiled.

Pitch fought to keep a sneer from his face.  
Television, a failed prototype and a message from nowhere: obviously the ideal foundations on which to base a dangerous mission.  
Were these really the same people that had defeated him last Easter?  
Or had they lowered their standards when he had stopped trying to actively destroy them?

'Well, if you three are going, Sandy and I will have to stay here', Tooth said, 'We work every night so even with just the two of us it'll be easy to keep belief going while you're gone'.

'But Sandy's the only one who's travelled through that part of space before', Bunny said, 'How are we supposed to know where we're goin' without him?'

'You've never travelled through space?' Jack asked.

'Only ever used the 'star gate' mate', Bunny shrugged, 'They were designed so my people wouldn't have to use spaceships anymore'.

'And him being afraid of heights makes flying difficult', Pitch said simply, earning him a scowl from Bunny.

North looked at Sandy and shrugged.  
Sandy pointed at himself and shook his head.  
Tooth collection and dreamsand dispersal would have to continue. With three Guardians gone, it was more imperative than ever to maintain belief in them until they got back. At least they would have months until Christmas for North and Jack didn't have a 'holiday' to worry about.  
There was another option for a guide: someone else who didn't technically have any responsibilities.  
But Sandy was fairly sure Bunny was not going to like it.  
When Sandy pointed at Pitch, he was proven right.

'No way', Bunny said.

'Absolutely not', Pitch said.

They had spoken in unison.

'But Sandy says you've been in space before', Tooth said.

'Sandy should also know my memories from back then are not what you'd call 'reliable'', Pitch said, annoyed.

'Well, then what about some of those lunar texts in your lair?' Tooth asked, 'Pretty sure I saw some maps. And we can use your teeth to see if we can find any useful memories'.

Sandy glared at Pitch.  
He had finally figured out where some of his missing volumes might have gone.

'Sounds good!' North said, 'Bunny can listen for distress call, Pitch can help us find it, I will pilot and Jack can…uh…'

'Act as morale officer?' Jack offered, 'Make sure that everyone, you know, _gets along'_.

'No need', Pitch said, 'I'm not going'.  
He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.  
Jack and Tooth shared a look.  
Jack's eyes darted at the doorway Pitch had left through then back to Tooth.  
She in turn flicked her eyes between Jack and Bunny.  
The two gave almost imperceptible nods.

As Tooth flew after Pitch, Bunny grumbled, 'Who needs him anyway? Gonna have enough to worry about without him hauntin' the ship'.

'Bunny. Can we talk?' Jack asked, pulling him away from the others before Bunny could answer.

Tooth quickly caught up to Pitch.

He had thought to let the nightmare out of a window to allow it to join the others in the lair.  
One look at the fierce blizzard outside had put an end to that plan.  
As well as his intention to phase into the shadows: he would have to go outside to use them. North had defences that stopped shadow teleportation inside the workshop.

'This was a bad idea', Pitch said, as Tooth stopped beside him, 'I shouldn't have come'.

'If you hadn't then that nightmare would still be in Bunny's head', Tooth said then after a moment of hesitation asked, 'You really don't remember anything about his planet?'

'Do I remember destroying it you mean?' Pitch asked bluntly.

'You said you didn't and I believe you', Tooth said reassuringly, 'I'm just asking if you can help, that's all'.

Pitch placed the little nightmare carefully into an inside pocket of his robe.

'When I crashed on Earth all those centuries ago I lost a lot of power as well as memories. Not that the rabbit seems to care'.

'He's in pain Pitch', Tooth said but held up her hands as he seemed about to object, 'I'm not saying he wasn't out of line in there. But if you can help, you should'.

Pitch said nothing.

'Why did you come to this dinner?' Tooth asked.

'To see you mostly', Pitch said, wondering where Tooth was going with this.

'What other reasons?' she prompted.

Pitch didn't say anything: he didn't know what to say.  
Why _had_ he come? He had known his presence might cause ructions but he had come anyway.  
Out of boredom perhaps?  
Tooth answered for him.

'I think it was because you want them to see the real you'.

Tooth touched his face.

'To see what I see in you. And if you're the person I think you are, you know this is your chance. You only fail if you don't try'.

Tooth took her hand away.  
Pitch looked thoughtful.

'You should put that on a fridge magnet', he quipped, 'I suppose I could look through my books. By the way, judging from his face, Sandy might want them back once we're done'.

'Bunny, you gotta ease up a bit', Jack said bluntly.

'It's because of him I'm even having this problem', Bunny said sourly.

'We don't know that'.

'Who else could put rotten things in my head like that? He was cooing over that nightmare like it was a fluffy kitten!'

'That's what we're gonna find out right? And like it or not, we might need Pitch. Or at least some of his books'.

'I know but how can he not remember Jack?! How many other planets did he destroy?!'

'Maybe he really doesn't remember Bunny', Jack shrugged.

'Well I remember losing my family even if he doesn't and I'll make him realise what he did if it's the last thing I do!'

'Bunny calm down. I know you're upset-'

'You have no idea how I feel!' Bunny raged.

Jack looked like Bunny had just punched him.  
His grip clenched on his staff.

'Right', Jack said in a quiet, tight voice, 'Okay'.

Bunny felt sick: he had actually just said that.  
To the one person who could possibly know how alone he felt.  
Gods he was stupid!  
Had he always been this bitter and the nightmare just brought it into the light?  
He hated feeling like this.  
And he hated how he had made Jack feel.  
Some friend he was.

'Bloody hell', Bunny sighed, 'Jack I'm-I'm so sorry. I don't know why I said that. My head's still all messed up'.

'It's fine Bunny', Jack said gently, 'I won't hold it against you. I know Pitch can rub people the wrong way and you haven't slept in a month'.

Jack perched easily on the arm of Bunny's chair and affably patted his friend's shoulder.

'You really think he would help?' Bunny asked, staring into the depths of his hot chocolate.

'He came to the dinner didn't he? Why do that if he didn't want to try and reach out to us? Okay, he made a couple of mistakes but so did you. And he did get that thing out of your head instead of punching you in the face'.

'You got me there', Bunny admitted, mollified by Jacks teasing smile, 'Alright. I'll try'.

Bunny and Jack re-entered just as Tooth and Pitch did.  
Jack gave Tooth a surreptitious thumbs up.  
Sandy and North had been cleaning up the mess the nightmare had caused when it had emerged but paused when they saw Bunny and Pitch approach each other.

'Thanks for pulling that thing out of my head', Bunny said abruptly, 'I'm sorry for flyin' off the handle like that. I'm not meself right now'.

'I know what that feels like', Pitch said, 'You're welcome'.

'I'm gonna be honest: I still don't trust you', Bunny said neutrally, 'But Tooth and Jack do. If they say you're alright, I'm willing to try'.

'As am I', Pitch said.

Bunny extended a hand stiffly and Pitch took it.

' _One wrong move'_ , Bunny promised mentally, _'One wrong word at the wrong time, one wrong look in my direction and I'll stuff you in an airlock'._

' _In space nobody will hear you scream rabbit',_ Pitch thought to himself _, 'I'll make sure of it'._

They shook hands once and both let go quickly.

There were visible signs of relief as the tension in the room dwindled.

'Not that is sorted, meet back here the day after Easter', North said, checking a gold watch he had produced from his waistcoat pocket, 'Will work out assignments for each of you in the meantime. Then we blast off!'


	3. Preparations

Bunny ticked another item off his checklist and exhaled in contentment.  
It felt great to have his energy back!  
A concoction of hot chocolate and dreamsand before bed at Sandy's recommendation, a good Easter and he was back to his own self. Like the last month of nightmares had never happened.  
He realised Pitch probably deserved more of the credit for actually extracting the thing and felt his stomach knot at the thought of facing him after how he had acted at the dinner.  
But, needs must.  
Sandy, Tooth and Pitch had spent an entire day scouring the lunar volumes Pitch kept in his lair and had found nothing that Sandy and Pitch did not already know. The two had constructed a map based on the galaxy as Sandy remembered it and how Pitch partly remembered it. Tooth had looked at Pitch's memories stored in his teeth but found nothing concrete that would confirm the status of the Pooka homeworld. She did say that when Pitch was back in space, the surroundings might trigger his memories but until then, the map and Pitch's interpretation of it would have to do.

Bunny's assigned task from North had been to gather supplies and store them until they could be transported onto the ship.  
In the last two weeks, he had gathered enough to feed them for months and carefully itemised it before storing it in large egg shaped containers. He was rolling these to the exit tunnel leading to North's workshop. He was glad he had dug it centuries ago on the off chance that humans ever decided to fully colonise the North Pole.  
Tooth, Jack and Sandy had helped gather various items he couldn't grow himself in the Warren's multiple gardens.  
He had just smiled and tapped his nose when they had asked him how he was going to keep it fresh until the trip.  
Food never expired in the Warren for the same reason that it was always Spring.  
It was one of his people's most revolutionary and closely guarded inventions: a Paradox Engine.  
Egg shaped and made of an unknown metal, it floated of its own accord, surface shimmering as it turned slowly in place.  
Originally designed to terraform planets, it manipulated time in a designated area to accelerate or decelerate growth. Each Warren was equipped with a more simplistic model in a room at its heart that could only be set to 'stasis'. It ensured each base remained comfortable for the Pookas working there by replicating the conditions of their home planet.  
Since his forced settlement on Earth, Bunny had found it even more invaluable: it really helped to make sure his eggs didn't go off in the run up to Easter.  
Checklist in hand, Bunny surveyed the load in front of him.  
Each egg container was flat on the bottom, allowing them to stand. They were light despite holding a lot more than they seemed to.  
He had colour coded them depending on their contents.  
Green for fruit and vegetables, red for meat, blue for water and so on.  
At least ten were barrels of water. Despite Jack reassuring him that he could create extra water using his powers at a pinch, Bunny knew a re-supply might prove difficult. He knew there were definitely locations on the way to his home planet that they could find water but that was only if they were still as Bunny remembered them.  
In addition to the general food supplies, he had set aside a few 'special' eggs.  
One was for North and painted red with striped candy canes, Jack's was pale blue with snowflakes and Bunny's personal one was green with egg shapes. Pitch's was black with no decoration.  
These held specific food items that each crewmember had each specifically asked Bunny to pack (with the exception of Pitch who had not asked for anything).  
North's held stuff like gingerbread, mulled wine and eggnog. Jack's had potato chips, soda and Skittles. Bunny's had carrots and chocolate.  
Gathering food for North and Jack had been easy to prepare and store. Humans ate pretty much anything they could find and usually way more of it than was good for them.  
Bunny had no idea what Pitch ate.  
Did he eat at all?  
He knew Pitch didn't really eat children like the stories said. They would all be nervous about the journey but would that amount of fear be enough to sustain him?  
He guessed Pitch was biologically closer to Sandy since they were both former members of the Lunar Imperium. Then again, the Imperium had encompassed many different planets with many different races: there was no guarantee they had been the same species before Kozmotis had been corrupted.  
Pitch was technically a unique creature.

'Looks like we have something in common after all', Bunny mused as his eyes alighted on the next egg to be rolled.

It was painted a light brown with bunny faces on it.  
Bunny inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell: the sweet scent emanating from the egg always reminded him of home.

'Everybody likes chocolate right?' he asked uncertainly, 'Everyone back home did. Nearly everyone on Earth does. I mean…what's not to like?'

As he thought about it, he became aware of the sound of crickets chirping from the bushes.  
Bugs! There was an idea.  
But if that was just a rumour, Pitch wasn't likely to be happy if Bunny showed up with egg containers full of crickets as rations for him.  
And what if he ate bugs but just didn't like crickets?  
He had promised to give Pitch a chance and that's what he was going to do.  
He wasn't about to jeopardise his chances by serving up something Pitch may take offence to.

'I'll ask Tooth', he said thoughtfully and marked his checklist with a question mark for Pitch's egg.

North was giving Sandy and Jack a tour of the ship.  
Sandy had helped with the design, using his vast knowledge of Lunar Imperium vessels as well as the numerous dreams North had previously had about finishing the project. A few corrections to North's original design and the ship had been finished with time to spare.  
Jack had been in charge of gathering the energy needed for the engine with the help of a couple of hundred of Tooth's fairies. Sandy had provided a gigantic dreamsand bag which easily dwarfed North's humongous toy storage bag he used every Christmas to transport toys. Each diminutive fairy had helped to spread the mouth of the bag wide while Jack had called upon the North wind to gently guide the precious magical particles from the Aurora Borealis into the waiting bag. Once filled with with the rainbow coloured vapour, Sandy had condensed the bag down until it was no bigger than the bags Jack saw people carrying at Burgess mall. North had fed the bag to the immense golden machine in the ship's engine room and done a joyful dance when he saw the arrow on the pressure gauge catapult into the green.

The ship itself was kept in a large hangar adjacent to North's main workshop.  
It reminded Jack of a strange cross between a jumbo jet and an old fashioned pirate ship. Its exterior was wooden but inscribed with various runes that North had said were 'for protection and stability'. North did not seem concerned about the wood's exposure to Earth's atmosphere so Jack was not worried either.  
The ship had two decks with separate quarters for each crew member, a dining hall, a navigation room, and a hold that was soon to be filled with the supplies Bunny would be bringing on the day of launch.  
The thaumic engine would get them into space and according to Sandy, would generate a defensive shield enabling the crew to venture out onto the deck while in space. It also satisfied Jack's questions about how a wooden ship could possibly survive in space. This shield would also repel obstacles such as asteroids or debris, provided they were not too big.  
Once in space however, it would be best to conserve the engine, keeping a close eye on the pressure gauge. North had several snowglobes standing by to act as 'escape pods' in the worst case scenario but none of them wanted to abandon the mission for the ignominious reason of running out of fuel.  
That was where the three dreamsand sails rising majestically out of the deck came in.  
These would capture additional energy from alternate sources to charge the engine such as positive energy from the crew's good dreams or suitable alien elements in the area.

'Meant to say Jack, I am impressed. You did not seem too surprised Bunny is an alien', North commented as the three of them walked up a narrow stairway to the deck.

'He _is_ a giant rabbit', Jack laughed, 'As good an explanation as any right?'

They emerged onto the deck.  
The ship was raised at an angle: North was going to use a long curved ramp to take off, much like he used for his sleigh.  
Jack wondered at the sails billowing above them as yetis scrubbed the deck and meticulously polished wood. One yeti was gently turning the steering wheel with another yeti beside him using a complicated looking instrument to take readings of some kind.

'This is amazing guys!' Jack enthused, truly amazed at what Sandy and North had accomplished, 'But, won't Pitch's powers won't affect the dreamsand? Don't like the idea of that sail bursting into nightmares'.

'He needs to concentrate to change it. Simple touch or proximity won't do it', North replied, taking a small hammer out of his pocket to deal with some protruding nails that had been overlooked on a nearby railing, 'But Sandy says we may need someone able to manipulate the sand in case of emergency or trouble'.

'Trouble?' Jack asked.

He watched as Sandy generated a few sand pictures.  
Each one was of a creature Jack had never seen before but he could think of a couple of words to describe how they looked.  
'Friendly' was not one of them.

'Right', Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck, 'But Bunny's people, the Pookas, they're friendly?'

Sandy nodded.  
The Pookas had never been openly hostile in his dealings with them.  
As a species they had been reclusive and very protective of their space, preferring to avoid confrontation through advanced defensive shields.  
Even though they were members of the Imperium, they had rarely shown interest in other planets or the minutiae of politics, preferring to continue their various research projects unimpeded.  
Sandy wouldn't have called them 'friendly' but they had been reasonable enough to deal with: sensible and long sighted.  
He wondered if Bunny would get culture shock. After being away for so long, Bunny had undoubtedly been influenced by Earth's more empathic, honest slant.

'Bunny hardly ever talks about himself', Jack said, 'Now I guess I know why. You really think his planet's still up there somewhere?'

Sandy was forced to shake his head sadly.  
He had received word of the planet's destruction himself all those centuries ago.  
It did not mean no other Pookas had survived or rebuilt the planet since then but he thought it unfair to get Jack's hopes up. He knew Bunny would be thinking the same way he was.

North put down his hammer, satisfied no coat would suffer at the hands of an errant nail.  
It bothered him to see his friends so despondent.

'Well, who can really know?' North said, laying a hand on Jack's shoulder, 'To find the truth is always a hard journey but it helps to have friends go with you'.

Jack smiled gratefully but there was something else bothering him.  
It had been steadily creeping to become one of the foremost of his thoughts as the days to blast off counted down.

'You think Bunny and Pitch are gonna be _okay_ together?' he asked.

Sandy caught his eye.  
Jack realised this had been on his mind too.

'I am sure they will be fine', North said before Jack finished his sentence, 'They are big boys'.

Sandy nodded.

'They know how important teamwork is to a mission like this one and with Bunny no longer having the 'nightmare sickness', I am sure we have nothing to worry about', North said a little too breezily.

Sandy smiled reassuringly.

'Yeah you're right', Jack agreed lightly, 'Nothing to worry about'.

The trio looked at each other uncomfortably, smiles fading.  
None of them could read minds but they could tell they were all thinking the same thing.

Pressurised container. Tempers flaring. Sensitive equipment. Lack of escape route.

'Their rooms are at opposite ends of this thing right?' Jack asked delicately.

'Oh yes yes!' North said, clearing his throat, 'I designed it that way. Not that I do not trust them you understand?!'

Sandy shook his head, emphatically agreeing.  
It was just the way things had worked out! He definitely hadn't made a slight alteration to the blueprint and North had definitely not nodded subtly when Sandy had done it. Which he hadn't.

'No! No!' Jack said, 'Of course not. They'll be fine'.

'And we will be there', North said.

'Yes. Yes we will', Jack said and after a pause added, 'But…you did say we were bringing some yetis?'

'Of course!' North confirmed, 'Need them for heavy lifting, flying the ship, maintenance…'

'Deterrents?' Jack chimed in.

Sandy nodded vigorously.

'Was not going to say that', North objected, 'That being said, if Pitch and Bunny thought the same way you do, it would maybe not exactly be totally bad thing. By the way Sandy, you bring that extra bag of dreamsand I asked for? Just in case?'

'Do you think you'll need sunscreen?' Tooth asked, eyes turned upwards.

Pitch was practicing for the 'gravitational shifts' Sandy had warned them might happen once they were free of Earth's atmosphere.  
He was walking up the walls and then standing with his feet on the lair's ceiling. The shadows beneath his feet were very effective anchors: zero gravity would not be an issue.  
He seemed totally at ease hanging upside down like an overgrown bat but looking at him was making Tooth dizzy.

She was kneeling in the lair's main chamber, a large trunk made of dark wood open in front of her.  
She was quite proud of herself.  
After a couple of long visits over the last month, the lair was starting to lose its oppressive atmosphere she had formerly felt so keenly. Or maybe she just no longer noticed it.  
She was usually too busy with Pitch.  
Today's activity was packing for the long journey ahead.

'Does one usually carry much luggage on an intergalactic road trip?' Pitch asked, disappearing into the ceiling and emerging from a pool of shadows on the floor a second later.

'Seriously', Tooth said, refusing to be distracted, 'what do you think: sunscreen or scarf and gloves?'

'I suppose either extreme is possible', Pitch acknowledged, looking at the sunscreen bottle and warm pieces of clothing Tooth was holding up for his inspection.

'Both then', Tooth nodded.

As she placed them inside the case, she surveyed the other items she had neatly lined up to be packed.

'Oh! A toothbrush! Can't forget that. Toothpaste naturally. Hairbrush?'

'I don't normally use one', Pitch shrugged.

'Change of clothes?'

'Don't normally use those either', Pitch said before suddenly running straight at the wall.

He vanished into a doorway of shadows, leapt out of one high on the wall, fell into another that opened on the floor and emerged from the same doorway he had entered leaving him back on solid ground.

'Is this packing really necessary Tooth?' he asked, critically tracking the route he had just taken.  
His reaction time had definitely improved but he wished Tooth was watching a bit more closely.

'Just want you to have everything you need. I packed bags for the others so I thought I'd pack one for you too. Do you want some books?'

Pitch cast a glance over the myriad volumes Tooth had selected.

'Anything and everything to keep me distracted from the rabbit. Or Frost. I keep having visions of ' _Are we there yet? Are we there yet?_ ''

Tooth couldn't help but smile at Pitch's near perfect recreation of Jack's voice.  
It looked so weird coming out of Pitch's mouth!  
It was a power Pitch rarely used, saying it was little more than a 'party trick' but Tooth always enjoyed it.

'Well, you can always threaten to turn the ship around', Tooth offered as a compromise.

She loaded the books into the trunk. It was mostly empty.

'You don't think there's anything else you're going to need?' she asked, concern creeping back into her voice.

Pitch knelt beside her.

'I'll be fine Tooth', he said, 'Don't worry'.

'I'm not worried!' Tooth said hastily.

Pitch looked at her and realised it was probably his powers exacerbating her fears.  
He was someone that an anxious person should not spend a lot of time around.  
He focused and reined in his influence slightly.

'Okay. Maybe I'm a little worried', Tooth conceded, grateful for Pitch's alleviation of pressure, 'I mean, it's space Pitch. Cold, dark, empty…'

'I should feel right at home then', Pitch joked but softened his tone at Tooth's downcast face, 'Look, the reason I'm saying I don't need a big suitcase is because I'll be back before you know it'.

'I want you to know something', Tooth said seriously.  
She took both his hands in hers.  
She had been thinking about what to say all week.  
She knew what Pitch had once been like: Sandy had told her without omitting unpleasant details.  
How would he react upon coming face to face with who he used to be? Being blamed for events he barely remembered?  
Would he run?  
Or worse: would he revert back to the monster he had been all those centuries ago?  
Would he leave her? Now, when they were beginning to truly connect?

'No matter what you find out there', she said gently, 'Just…come home. Okay?'

Pitch squeezed her fingers.

'I promise', Pitch said, 'And don't worry, I swear to you, here and now before gods and men: I _will_ use the toothbrush'.

Tooth giggled at Pitch's comedic grave tone.

'Every day?' she asked.

'Twice every day', Pitch said roguishly, kissing her hand, 'With mouth wash'.

'Sweet talker', Tooth grumbled good naturedly as she returned her attention back to the case, 'Now, back to business. Underwear: Yes or no?'


	4. To the Stars!

Pitch was not about to admit it to anyone but he was impressed.  
As he ascended the gangplank leading to the deck of North's vessel, he admired the size of it and the obvious delicate magical masterwork it had taken to construct. He detected various wards of protection inlaid into the wood and metal forming the hull as well as older lucky chants and prayers for safe voyages coating the deck invisible save as a brief glimmer seen out of the corner of the eye.  
He marvelled at the size of the dreamsand sails and momentarily wickedly wondered how many years he could have saved had he had access to this amount of dreamsand when he had first started his nightmare experiments.  
A yeti approached him and opened his arms. Pitch deposited the trunk into his waiting arms and the yeti, eyeing the trunk as if it would bite him, went to take it to Pitch's designated cabin.  
Pitch counted at least twenty of the brutes performing miscellaneous tasks around him. He moved out of the way of one mopping the deck. North obviously wanted everything spic and span for his vessel's big day.

'Hello Pitch!' came a cheery, booming voice.

'Speak of the devil', Pitch mumbled, directing his gaze upward.

North swung down from above, gripping a rope like a much plumper Tarzan as he leapt down to the deck. Pitch felt the force from North's landing reverberate beneath his feet.

'What do you think?' North asked, beaming with pride.

'Certainly sturdy', Pitch commented.

'But light', North said, stroking the sideboard fondly, 'Balance is important. Sturdy usually means heavy but this will glide through the air like snowflake'.

' _I hope so'_ , Pitch thought as he followed North to receive the briefing with the others before take-off, ' _Or this will be a very short trip'_.

According to North, the spells protecting the ship would eliminate most (but not all) of the turbulence during take-off and would protect them upon entry into space. The bubble encasing the ship would regulate temperature and maintain their oxygen supply. There would be some odd gravitational shifts and some queasiness but nothing serious.  
Just as a precaution however he had advised all members of the crew to tie themselves to something or at least hold on to something heavy to ensure nobody ended up sliding across the deck unexpectedly.  
As a result, when the countdown began, every yeti, Guardian and Boogeyman were secured to the ship like name tags tied to Christmas ribbons.

Sandy and Tooth waved, happy smiles warring with the concern on their faces as North pressed the sequence of keys beside the helm that would initiate the thaumic engines. He had insisted on taking the helm for take-off himself, and was grinning with anticipation.  
Jack had tied himself to the rigging, savouring the vantage point as well as the reassuring glow from the dreamsand around him. He was used to flying but this was entirely new. He wanted to take in very detail!  
He smiled as he felt the vessel begin to move, the massive boosters on either side of the ship's hull unfolding and roaring. The ship began to slide up the ramp towards the doors set into the roof of the cavern in which it was kept. Ahead of the figurehead of a charging reindeer, a pair of heavy doors slid back smoothly, revealing the Arctic wastes and the night sky gleaming high above.  
The Aurora Borealis, activated by a yeti back in the workshop, streaked across the sky like a painter's brush stroke, illuminating the darkness. North made a final note of calculations and trajectory, took a deep breath and threw a large lever forward.  
The ship shunted into proper acceleration. It roared up the ramp and leapt from the end of it like a water bird taking wing. Rising in a curve, it reached the bottom of the Aurora and impossibly, ignorantly of the accepted laws of physics, landed within the Northern Lights and _flew_!  
The Aurora Borealis parted like a rainbow sea, swelling with the speed of the ship as it ascended into the upper atmosphere. The sails, unfurled and full with the wind, lifted the ship. It made Jack think of a mighty golden dragon carrying them to the stars.  
Exhilarated at the wind rushing through his white hair and North's joyous laughter, he looked at Bunny and Pitch to see if they were excited too.  
Bunny was gripping the bannister of the wooden stairs leading to the helm, nostrils flaring and eyes wide but strangely unfocused.  
Pitch meanwhile was standing with his back pressed against the door leading to the cabins. He was making a bigger effort than Bunny to remain unconcerned as he examined his nails. But Jack stifled a giggle as he noticed how tightly Pitch's back was pressed against the wall as well as the shadows extending from the bottom of Pitch's robe. Like tentacles, they were wrapped tightly around several railings anchoring Pitch like one of the barrels tied in the cargo hold. Pitch was just as nervous as Bunny, just better at hiding it.  
The ship began to rock violently as it ascended into space.  
Higher and higher it rose and Jack gasped at the sight of the planet below. Sometimes on clear Winter nights he had asked the wind to help him rise above the clouds but it had always refused to take him higher than a level it deemed safe.  
Earth was beautiful! He tried to pinpoint Burgess but they were rising so far and fast it was swallowed by the continent of North America before he could get a clear glimpse of it.  
His stomach roiled at the change in gravity despite the protective magical cocoon of the ship but he was too in awe to care. He waved madly at the moon as they flew past, wondering if Manny was looking at them through his window.  
They were in space! They were actually in space!

'We're in space', Bunny thought to himself as he swallowed bile, 'That's okay. Space is fine. We're in a magic ship. Perfectly safe. Goin' to find my planet. In the dark. Oh strewth there's nothin' beneath us is there?! We're just floatin' in the cold, dark, bottomless- No! shut up shut up don't think about it just relax-'

'It works!' North whooped even though nobody could hear him over the roaring engine, 'It works! We are like the cosmonauts! To infinity and beyond that eh?! Hah!'

Pitch was too distracted by the smorgasbord of fear emanating from every living being on board to think about anything else. It was so intoxicating that his nervousness was all but forgotten.

Gradually, the ship slowed down and levelled out. Despite the immense speed at which it travelled, indicated by stars and planets flashing past, the magic barrier began to reduce the speed felt by those on board. Soon, the yetis began to undo their lines, confident their weight would no longer work against them. They began to attend to their various duties.  
One came to take the helm from North. He surrendered it after a brief moment of hesitation, eyes shining with wonder as he looked at the night sky.

Bunny rose to his feet shakily, having slipped to a sitting position at some point during the take off. Despite his fear, his ears perked up. He could _hear_ the stars twinkle as the ripple of the ship's movement spread: they sounded like little wind chimes. It was beautiful.

Pitch, rejuvenated by the fear he had absorbed, released the shadowy anchors he had conjured and marvelled at the infinite darkness. The stars shone so brightly: like dreamsand. Had he really wanted to snuff them out all those centuries ago?

Jack opened his mouth to try and articulate what they were all thinking.  
However, now confident that any danger had passed, Jack's stomach rebelled.  
He promptly threw up.

Pitch entered his personal cabin and locked the door behind him.  
He was prepared to deal with the unimaginable vastness of space, alien beasts and hostility from fellow crewmembers. Not Jack Frost's stomach contents. That was a job for the yetis.  
The room was comfortable but basic: bed, table, mirror and chair with a porthole showing the passing stars beyond the glass.  
He saw his trunk had been set at the foot of his bed but he noticed something else in the room he did not recognise.  
There was a black egg sitting on his desk.  
A prank of the rabbit's?  
Frowning, Pitch examined it but its smooth surface gave nothing away.  
Deciding to chance it and take whatever ill-conceived trick was lying in wait, Pitch flipped the top open and examined the contents.  
The first thing to catch his eye was a pack of breath mints sitting on top of a mass of brown, shiny items. Pitch picked up the pack and smiled fondly. A tiny sticky note had been stuck to it.

 _Enjoy!  
-T_

Tooth's favourite brand.  
So, the rabbit was not singularly responsible for the egg.  
Feeling reassured at Tooth's involvement, he placed the mints carefully in the top drawer and shut it.  
There was a slight yet familiar clicking noise from the egg which drew Pitch's attention.  
Upon closer inspection, he saw the egg was full of squirming insects, motivated to movement by the light. His stomach gave an insistent growl at the sight.  
He snatched one up, trapping it between his pointer finger and thumb and held it up to the light.  
He stifled a laugh.  
The rabbit had coated the insects in various kinds of chocolate.  
This one had even been painted: pink polka dots shining over its chocolate brown carapace. The rather haphazard design provided an explanation for why the entire batch had not been painted: the bugs had obviously not wanted to stay still.  
Just like the rabbit to ruin a perfectly good insect!  
Typical Guardian: imposing his own standards on something that didn't want them!  
Then again…  
Tooth had obviously helped. She probably wouldn't be happy if he ignored the egg: probably accuse him of being 'ungrateful' or 'unfair' of all things! Maybe she had suggested painting them? She liked things to look nice. Maybe it was a way to categorise the insects: perhaps they were painted to indicate flavour?  
Only one way to find out.

'No point putting it off', he said sourly and ate the beetle whole, popping it into his mouth like the chocolate drop it resembled.

After a few crunches, he swallowed and sighed in annoyance.  
It was delicious.  
Somehow he felt the rabbit had got one over on him.  
But it didn't stop him eating three more of the insects.

'According to the map, if we keep going this way, we will run into this planet here in a couple of days', North said, tracing the suggested route with his finger, 'Then we can be certain we are on track'.

North, Bunny, Pitch and Jack were gathered in the mess hall.  
North had hung Sandy's star chart up on the wall. Here and there were patches of Pitch's spidery script indicating corrections or suggestions based on what he had managed to remember about the region they were travelling to. Bunny had also added to the document, drawing on his astro- navigation lessons from school all those centuries ago.

'Do you know it Bunny?' North asked.

Bunny once more ran through the memories of his interplanetary geography lessons and quickly identified it. It was a small planet on the outskirts on Pooka territory.

'Yeah', Bunny confirmed, 'Pooka outpost. A farming world designed to grow food'.

'Please don't mention food', Jack groaned.

Jack had not adapted well to space travel.  
It had been a surprise to the crew considering his experience of flying on both North's sleigh and using the North Wind.  
Pitch had theorised it was tied to his powers: Jack was a creature of ice and snow. Both were phenomena his current surroundings lacked, save for the occasional passing comet.  
That being said, his face was no longer a sickly green and he had been able to keep the soup down that they had for dinner before the meeting.  
So far at least.

'Is okay Jack. At least cherry is popped now eh?' North said kindly.

Jack gave a heavy sigh at the mention of 'cherry'.  
North gave an apologetic smile.  
Pitch smirked.

'Sorry Jack', Bunny said sympathetically, 'If nothin' else it'll give you a bit of a breather mate. Nice solid ground eh?'

Jack gave a thumbs up and went back to resting his head on his folded arms.

Much later that night, Bunny left his cabin and went upstairs onto the deck.  
He hadn't been upstairs since they had taken off: he was determined not to go back up there until things had quieted down and he could adjust properly. Now that everyone was asleep, he had his chance. He wasn't a real rabbit but Pookas as a race naturally shared their preference for solid ground over their heads and beneath their feet. He found it helped if he thought of the ship as having a glass ceiling.  
All thoughts of a glass ceiling vanished as he noticed Pitch watching the stars pass overhead.  
He felt a stab of annoyance but swallowed it. It wasn't like Pitch had deliberately gone out of his way to intrude on Bunny's adjustment.  
But then…why _was_ he up here? What was he up to now?  
Wait a minute. He couldn't be up to anything! If anything happened to this ship, Pitch was up the creek too! Wasn't he?  
The cheeky bugger hadn't even mentioned the egg full of insects. Probably thrown them overboard or snuck them into the food supplies for a joke. Bunny hadn't expected a 'thank you' but an acknowledgment of the effort would've been nice.  
Bunny considered going back downstairs but saw Pitch's head swivel slightly.  
He knew Bunny was there.  
That settled it.  
Bunny was not about to make it look like he was turning tail just because Pitch was on deck.  
Besides, despite his suspicions about the Boogeyman, it wasn't like Pitch had done anything so far to justify them. They couldn't keep ignoring each other like they had during dinner. One of them had to make an effort sometime and it looked like Bunny would have to be the bigger spirit.  
After all: it could be a long trip.

'Why you skulkin' about at this time of night?' Bunny asked as he walked to join Pitch.

Pitch spread his arms as he turned, exasperated.

'Is it skulking if I'm standing out in the open without any attempt to hide?' he asked.

Bunny instantly regretted the choice of words.  
Why had he said that? Pitch had as much right to be up here as he did after all.

'Sorry', Bunny holding up his paws.

Pitch's eyes narrowed at the honest apology.  
When Bunny just looked back at him neutrally, he nodded and leant on the railing.  
Bunny took position beside him.  
They stood in silence for a few moments, both watching a comet trace its way across the void.

'So', Bunny finally asked, 'why are you standin' around in the open at this time of night? Can't sleep?'

'Unlike the rest of you, I only sleep for two or three hours at a time'.

'Seriously?'

'Yes and I don't have any pretty pictures to gawk at while doing so'.

Bunny's ears perked up.

'Wait: you don't dream?' he asked.

Pitch shook his head.

'Let the little man poke around in my head? No thank you'.

Bunny was surprised to feel a twinge of sympathy.  
He had seen butterflies circling Pitch's head when Sandy had knocked him out at Easter. Had that just been a joke on Sandy's part?

'I thought everybody dreamed', Bunny said, 'Maybe you just don't remember them?'

This made Pitch pause for a moment.  
What he had said was not quite true.  
Sometimes in the oblivion of sleep, he did see strange flashes.  
People, places, even Sandy sometimes.  
Sometimes he saw butterflies and there was usually someone with him. Someone special…  
Pitch shook his head, both in denial at Bunny's suggestion and to dispel the blurry images threatening to surface.  
The rabbit's concerned tone and non-aggressive attitude was confusing him.

'I got bored of looking at my cabin's ceiling so I came out here', Pitch said, 'I can't help it if the rest of you are such slugabeds, rabbit'.

Despite the insult, Bunny was surprised to find he didn't feel the usual urge to punch Pitch in the face.  
It suddenly struck him this was the first real conversation they had ever had. Usually they just exchanged threats and insults.  
Maybe it was just the stress of the day but neither of them seemed to be in the mood for their usual aggressive exchanges.  
Here they were, just talking.  
Like normal people.

'It's Bunnymund, not 'rabbit'', Bunny said, 'Or Bunny''.

'On a first name basis now are we? You flatter me', Pitch said.

' _Did Pitch just make a joke?_ ' Bunny thought, ' _I didn't know he had it in him'_.

'We _have_ known each other for at least four centuries', Bunny insisted, 'Besides I'm not even a rabbit'.

Pitch was bemused by this. Had he and the rabbit really been acquainted for that long? Time certainly flew when you were mortal enemies.  
But, did mortal enemies usually give their foes gifts? Those insects had not proven to be poisonous after all. Which was just as well considering Pitch had snacked on a few more since coming on to the deck.

'You would prefer 'Pooka'?' Pitch asked.

'Call me what you like', Bunny said lightly, 'But ya don't hear me callin' you 'Boogeyman' do ya?'

'I've heard you have a few other choice names for me you like to use', Pitch said, ''Stinkin' ratbag' springs to mind'.

The accusation had been mild, almost teasing in tone.  
Bunny responded in kind, astounded at how easy this conversation had been so far.

'And you don't have any for me?' Bunny asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Not just you', Pitch shrugged unapologetic, 'I'm an equal distributor of insults I assure you. And I have the decency to use them behind your back'.

'Fair enough', Bunny laughed but was forced to stifle a yawn, 'I guess that's my cue: g'night then'.

'Not going to frog march me back to my room?' Pitch asked.

Bunny stretched, amused by the obvious surprise in Pitch's voice.

'Sorry to disappoint but I'm crashin' here', Bunny said, giving a wave, 'See ya tomorrow'.

Pitch's voice calling after him made him pause.

'Thank you. By the way'.

'For what?' Bunny asked, turning back.

'The insects', Pitch said, keeping his back turned.

Bunny genuinely smiled.  
Had the Boogeyman just said something nice? In a completely polite, not-sarcastic, not-looking-for- trouble, almost _friendly_ way?

'You enjoyin' them?' Bunny asked.

Pitch's shoulders stiffened.

'I don't hate them', he sniffed.

Bunny shook his head as he resumed his descent of the stairs.  
That was more like it.


	5. Planetfall

North examined the readings on the viewscreen. He had left a yeti at the helm so he could gather information for their mission that day.  
They had reached the farming planet Bunny had marked out on the map and were preparing to make the trip down.  
According to Bunny, the planet they were orbiting was half the size of Earth but had an identical atmosphere which correlated with the data scrolling across the screen.  
He entered in the co-ordinates Bunny had given him and waited until the screen lit up green. Beside the screen, two empty snowglobes sitting on pads attached to the machine by two wires began to glow. North smiled as he saw cloudy vapour materialise inside. He saw flashes of green fields, trees and even some buildings inside the one on the left. The one on the right generated a tiny replica of the dreamsand vessel orbiting a facsimile of the colony.  
North rubbed his hands, satisfied with the snowglobes being generated. One to get down. One to get back.

'Okay dokes', he said, 'Atmosphere is definitely breathable. Once snowglobes are ready we can use one to get to surface'.

He leapt up from his spinning chair and started to put on his coat.

'No space suits or landers?' Jack asked, his disappointment obvious.  
So far, this trip had not been particularly fun despite his initial excitement. He was grateful they hadn't run into any xenomorphs or BORG but so far he had seen more of the contents of his own stomach than the wonders of the universe he had been expecting.

'Yes because that's what you need when you're queasy', Pitch said, 'Confined space travel in a smaller ship, turbulence from entering an atmosphere and a secure glass container over your head'.

Jack went even paler than he had been as he pictured the consequences of such a combination. Pitch was amazed Jack's skin did not become transparent.

'What's this planet called North?' Jack asked, pushing his previous disappointment as far to the back of his mind as it would go.

'Used to be Site 243-A', Bunny's voice interjected as he entered, carrying the boomerangs he had retrieved from his room.  
He began to tuck them into his bandoleer.

'But they changed the name to Arcadia', he continued, 'Nice place. Quiet'.

A slight chime prompted North to detach the snowglobes. He gave each one a brief shake before tucking the return one into his coat. He tossed the one depicting scenes from the planet up and caught it one handed.

'When you're ready Bunny', North said and headed up the stairs to the deck.

Pitch followed, leaving Jack and Bunny alone.  
Jack watched Bunny begin to methodically check the other sections of his bandoleer. It was when Bunny had checked one small pocket for the third time that Jack interjected.

'So, you said you've been to this planet before?' Jack asked.

Bunny nodded, halting his obsessive checking for a moment to smile nostalgically.

'Visited once when I was a member of the survey corp'.

'Survey corp?'

'We were like planet inspectors. My specialty was vegetation so I spent a few months here checking the produce'.

Jack nodded as he absorbed the information. Bunny was a keen gardener but he hadn't known it had used to be his job. He didn't know he had even had a job before he had become the Easter Bunny!  
He felt a twinge of sadness.  
He called Bunny his friend but there was so much he didn't know about him. He had never even thought to ask him any questions about his past.

'Is there a city at these co-ordinates?' Jack asked.

'The main settlement'll be a short dander from the landin' site. Last I heard, they hadn't decided on a name'.

Bunny gave a heavy sigh.

'We haven't been able to hail the settlement', he said.

Jack knew he couldn't reassure Bunny about that.  
He hoped there would be Pookas down there but there was no point raising false hopes.  
After all, they hadn't encountered any other spaceships or transmissions since they had left Earth. To all appearances, they were all alone out there.

'Bunny', Jack said, 'whatever we find down there…'

He hesitated for a moment but the resigned sadness Bunny's eyes helped him find the words.

'We're with you', he said, 'Okay?'

'I know mate. Thanks', Bunny said mustering a smile.

As soon as Bunny set foot on Arcadia, his heart sank.  
It was too cold.  
Like all planets designated for food production, the colony had been designed with a weather control system to keep conditions optimal. The colony was supposed to be warm with enough humidity to ensure the scheduled harvests were maximised.  
The sunlight was pale and a strange smell like ash was being carried on the wind.  
He moved forward to leave room for Pitch, Jack and North to come on to the planet surface through the snow globe portal.  
They had decided to leave the yetis back on the ship. If there was still an active Pooka colony on the planet, they didn't want to risk appearing suddenly with what appeared to be a small army.  
Pitch was under orders to hide if they ran into any Pookas. His presence would definitely turn a few heads and tweak a few noses.  
This was also why he was bringing up the rear.  
As the snowglobe closed behind them, Bunny gestured for the group to move forward.  
They headed North: the settlement was just past the forest they were standing in.

'I feel strange', Jack said after a few minutes of walking.

He grimaced as his voice, though not loud, cut through the silence like a gunshot. He shrugged sheepishly at the startled faces of his travelling companions.

'Strange as in going to be sick again?' Pitch asked, making a tactical sidestep.

'No. I'm all…I dunno', Jack scratched his head searching for a word, 'Shivery?'

'If _Jack Frost_ is 'shivery', that is bad sign', North said, eyes scanning the area carefully, 'Bunny? You hear anything?'

'That's what's worrying me mate', Bunny said, ears flicking this way and that, 'Plenty of trees but I don't hear any birds or bugs'.

They began to move forward again.

As he walked, Pitch realised he felt perfectly comfortable despite the abundance of sunlight. He did not feel uneasy but was conscious of how loud the other three's footprints seemed in the silence of the woods as they walked through fallen branches that snapped beneath their weight. He was also becoming aware of an increasing pleasant sensation of fullness in his stomach.  
All three of his compatriots were nervous but Bunny was far out pacing the rest.

After what seemed like hours, the trees gave way.  
As he emerged from the shadows of the trees, Bunny felt an invisible weight lift from his shoulders. The sound of the wind through grass was like an angelic choir after the unbearable silence and the space was luxurious after the confines of the ship.  
Bunny's legs gave a compulsive ache and he had to fight the urge to suddenly sprint out into the sun kissed, open grassland. He satisfied himself with drinking in the sight but stopped.  
In the distance, beyond the green field, were a series of domed white buildings sitting like pristine eggs in a nest. These were nestled behind a fortified white wall that housed generators that conjured a defensive forcefield when activated.  
His heart gave a leap: the settlement was intact!

'It's still here!' he cried behind him.

Sensing Bunny's excitement, Jack, having shaken off his space induced nausea, came up beside him.

'Race you?', he offered, with a mischievous smirk.

'Oh for the love of darkness!' Pitch exclaimed as he and North watched Jack and Bunny pelt ahead of them.

North shook his head fondly as he watched the duo leaping through the grass, trying desperately to gain a lead over the other. Despite his love of his creation, the vessel had been taking its toll on him too: he missed the open wilds of the North Pole.

'Have they forgotten this is technically a stealth mission?' Pitch said sourly, 'We should be hiding!'

'On open ground?' North said, gesturing widely, 'Come on! Last one there's a slowpoke!'

Then North was gone, sprinting with a speed Pitch had not expected from a spirit his age.  
Pitch phased into the shadows, following in his incorporeal state but maintained a speed that kept him a few paces behind the others.  
He hated the fact that, just for a moment, he had been tempted to join in with such foolishness.

Bunny won the race, to Jack's frustration and in line with Bunny's expectations.  
He stretched and hopped, his legs quivering with adrenaline as Jack conjured a cooler breeze to combat the heat.  
Bunny looked up at the tall gates leading to the settlement. He was gratified to see beautiful flowering vines encircling the white pillars flanking the gates. He had suggested that as a stylistic choice during his last visit.  
Protocol dictated they wait for the colony welcoming committee to come to the gates and he could think of worse spots in which to wait. He would knock the door as soon as Pitch and North caught up.

Jack leant against a pillar to catch his breath and felt unexpected grooves beneath his fingertips.  
Using his staff to brush aside the flower covered ivy circling the pillar, he saw a message in an unfamiliar language had been scratched into the brick.  
It read: ' _Tá an Dorchadas ag Teacht'.  
_ The final word trailed off to end in a conspicuous dark stain. It looked like dried mud, most likely from the ivy.

'Hey Bunny', Jack asked, 'What's this mean? ' _Welcome to Arcadia'_ or something?'

Bunny came closer and Jack's grin vanished when he heard Bunny give an involuntary gasp of horror.  
Bunny's eye twitched and he seemed to be casting about for something to say. His ears were back as he stared at the message. His eyes darted between the message and his surroundings.

'What's it mean Bunny?' Jack pressed, regretful at having caused such a reaction through idle curiosity.

'Trouble', Bunny croaked, unsheathing a boomerang.  
Now Jack had uncovered it, he could smell the dried blood on the pillar even above the overpowering scent of the flowers.

He held up a fist as North and Pitch joined them as a signal to halt. He adjusted his posture to lighten his footsteps. He walked to the Pooka sized door set into the wall that ringed the settlement and gently pushed the handle down.  
The door creaked open.  
Bunny gritted his teeth. The gate should have been locked.  
He slipped inside.  
North, reading the change in atmosphere, unsheathed his sword. Jack fell into line behind them, drifting slightly off the ground. They passed through the gate.  
Pitch gave the carved message a glance as he passed, his attention attracted by the scent of the bloodstain.  
His Pooka dialects were rusty but the message was clear enough.  
He had seen it scrawled on enough of their planets to remember it even if he remembered little else of the invasions he had led.  
It said: ' _The Darkness Has Come'_.


	6. Paradise Lost

The settlement was deserted.  
A cold wind blew through the open street, scattering fallen dead leaves across a promenade.  
A large tree rose above the empty, white buildings, its vast branches casting vein like shadows across the cracked plaster of the walls.  
It seemed as if a celebration had been due to take place. There was colourful bunting and flowers tied to lampposts. Ribbons had been tied around a nearby fountain, rippling in the running water.  
A couple of chairs had been tipped over and a couple of goblets rolled back and forth on the ground in a perpetual rocking motion.  
The minimal signs of a struggle ironically only made the eerie atmosphere worse.  
It was as if every living creature in the settlement had just left.

The oppressive silence reminded Pitch of the many sites affected by deadly sickness he had seen in his long life.  
Bunny motioned for the group to move forward, ears upright and swivelling.  
They halted beneath the tree and all turned so their backs were against the trunk.  
Four pairs of eyes surveyed the scene, none of them able to discern a reason for the lack of inhabitants.

'Wait here', Bunny whispered, 'I'm gonna check the star gate. If they had to get off planet in a hurry, that's where they went'.

Then he was gone, paw pads noiselessly moving over the soft grass as he sped down an alleyway.  
The other three moved away from the tree and began individual investigations.

North lifted one of the chairs back onto its feet and noticed disturbed earth beneath some fallen leaves.  
Kneeling down for a closer look, he gently lifted some leaves out of the way to reveal the whole impression.  
The tread was light. Unnaturally so.  
He noticed Pitch walking nearby.  
Pitch never left footprints: even in snow. Unless he wanted to.  
When he did, they were as light as the unusual tracks he was examining.  
But his prints were always the same size and matched the shape of the human feet that protruded from the bottom of his robe.  
These prints were unlike any animal's North had ever seen, changing from a trail reminiscent of a snake's passage to paw pads to long gouge like marks that had raked into the earth. Then they vanished altogether, as if the creature had taken wing.  
Were there other kinds of Nightmares? Different species?  
He had seen Pitch's horses. Were there other shadows out there, more monstrous in shape?  
He looked up and saw rends in a nearby roof that matched the clawmarks in the dirt.  
If so, how big could they get?

Jack pulled the drawstring on his hoodie.  
It felt strange to feel cold for the first time in centuries.  
He didn't even feel like flying up to get a better look of the area: it seemed disrespectful somehow.  
He even felt ashamed of the race across the field they had enjoyed a scant few minutes before.  
A small squeak from the direction of his feet drew his attention.  
He bent down and picked up the object that had emitted the noise.  
A bunny shaped doll looked up at him, its button eyes catching the light despite the dirt caking its soft surface.  
So there had been Pookas here.  
Jack frowned and pocketed the doll.  
It had been special to someone once.  
It didn't seem right to leave it there.

Bunny's mind was racing almost as fast as he was towards the star gate chamber.  
His people couldn't have been gone for very long: the ribbons and bunting had only been slightly bleached by the sun. He doubted they were dead: there were no bodies and none of the usual smells that accompanied an invasion. Smoke, dust, roasted meat…  
Nightmare normally invaded a planet and devoured its natural resources. They took captives but also killed those that resisted as a lesson to other potential revolutionaries. These poor sods were then usually put on display: a twisted form of stomach churning artistic expression.  
Arcadia had its own defence force: they would've fought had the Nightmare forces come calling.  
And yet no grisly trophies hung up and the planet was intact.  
But if Bunny's people weren't dead then where were they?  
He rounded the corner and pelted towards the small temple that led to the star gate chamber. Straightening up, he placed a paw on an egg shaped stone floating above a small pillar.  
It glowed warmly at his touch and Bunny breathed a shaky sigh of relief.  
His clearance still worked.  
An entrance opened up in the smooth wall of the temple and Bunny descended the staircase into the comforting, warm gloom of the planet's underground.  
He ran past the luminescent eggs set into the wall that illuminated his path and came to the circular chamber that housed the gate.  
It was designed like an empty arch way that rose from the ground.  
Bunny saw the ground had been disturbed around the arch: many footprints on top of each other and a multitude of comforting scents of fur in the air.  
His people had been here!  
But without the transportation crystals set into the keystone in the middle of the arch, he had no way to follow them.  
He stamped one foot twice and the control console rose from a panel in the floor. It came to his waist in height and was glowing faintly.  
Bunny half-heartedly tapped a few buttons on the control console for the star gate.  
Nothing happened.  
It had been a long shot.  
As he turned to walk back outside, he noticed something sticking out of the side of the plinth the control panel was built into.  
He took hold of the protruding implement and yanked.  
Fragments of vine like wires fell to the floor as the blade was pulled loose.  
Holding it up to the light, Bunny saw it was a Pooka combat knife. Standard issue for warriors and colony guards, the blade was moonlight steel. One of the purest metals in the galaxy, it had been plunged so deep into the plinth, it had severed the wires sustaining the connection to the arch, explaining the lack of response from the console.  
And it had been a Pooka that had severed it: if any other species picked up the weapon, it would immediately secrete a spongy coating over the blade rendering it harmless.  
Perhaps the colonists had escaped offworld and one brave soul had stayed behind to ensure they couldn't be followed by whatever had come to the planet?  
It was a sombre thought but a substantially more optimistic one to cling to than the alternatives.  
He holstered the knife and glanced around.  
Finally some good news!  
There were several barrels marked with a familiar insignia: a star within an egg.  
Stored thaumic particles used to power the star gates.  
Useless for the gate with its control console broken but not for the ship.  
Bunny took hold of one and carefully lifted it in both paws.  
He headed back up the stairs, taking care not to trip in the gloom.

Pitch felt uneasy in this place.  
It was an unfamiliar feeling, especially in a place that had been tainted by shadow magic.  
He could feel it in the air: almost a scent but one he perceived through some instinctive hunger, not his nose.  
But there was an infernal buzzing noise in his head that would not go away!  
It was akin to a bluebottle flying too close to the ear but there were no insects in the area.  
He was realising it had more in common with static electricity which meant it was being transmitted from somewhere.  
Wandering around, he began to get closer to the source of the noise.  
He ran a hand along a wall festooned in soft, creeping ivy and was rewarded with the feeling of metal bars beneath the vines. He brushed them aside and saw it was metal gate with a staircase leading down into unseen depths. A sewer perhaps?  
Slipping through the bars, he remained incorporeal on the other side and headed down, blending in with the darkness to avoid any unwelcome, unseen eyes.  
As he went deeper, he began to pick up a multitude of scents: disinfectant, faint traces of smoke, chemicals and oddly, a stronger trace of shadow magic.  
Not a sewer then.  
As he finally came out of the tunnel, his suspicions were proven correct.  
The near total darkness was no match for Pitch's nocturnal eyes.  
It was a laboratory.  
Pitch was a spirit of fear: he didn't even have to look at the evidence to validate his suspicions.  
People had been afraid here: it was bleeding from the walls.  
A chair fitted with restraints. Shock prods. A selection of clean tools laid out neatly on a tray that were capable of horror with minimal effort if applied the correct way. A straitjacket hung on a peg like one would hang a normal raincoat. A chemistry set with an unsightly burn etched into the table it sat on. A large cage with its lock broken and bars bent. A tank with dirty water and blurry shapes floating in it.  
The humming noise was pulsing behind Pitch's eyes. He finally located the source.  
Reaching beneath a desk, he grabbed a box like object and yanked it.  
It came loose with a discordant burst of static.  
Pitch examined it.  
It appeared to be nothing more than a small grey box that had been affixed to the desk by wires.  
He crushed it in his hand for good measure.  
Some kind of anti-Nightmare device, obviously running out of juice since it had been turned on.  
Pitch remembered encountering similar devices on other planets: moonlit iron with a core of moon dust, the microwaves they generated when attached to a heat source disrupted shadow magic.  
He hadn't encountered ones as small as this. Perhaps Pooka science had gone the same way as human gadgets in his absence?  
It wasn't here to protect against Nightmare intrusion: he had barely heard it outside. It was here to prevent Nightmare escape. If its 'battery' was not close to death, Pitch knew he would have been out cold from exposure to it.  
That settled it.  
This was a laboratory dedicated to more unsavoury pursuits than 'food production' for an agricultural world.  
Intrigued, Pitch began to flick through a pile of papers that lay scattered across the desk.  
He didn't understand the various diagrams but one in particular caught his eye.  
It was not finely detailed like the others.  
This one was crude, drawn in something like looked like red crayon.  
A circle with a single eye and four legs spread out behind it like a squid mid swim.  
Pitch recognised it and suddenly realised one of the possible reasons the device had been turned on.  
He dropped it and flew up the stairs as a shadow as fast as he could.  
It was probably already on the way!

He returned to the square to find Bunny and North stacking barrels of some kind.  
Jack was sitting cross legged, the task obviously too physically taxing for his slight frame.  
As Pitch approached, he stood up, alerted by Pitch's face.

'We need to leave', Pitch announced, 'Or at least make ourselves scarce'.

The others looked at him in confusion.

'What's up Pitch?' Jack asked, 'You find something?'

'This is not a agri-world', Pitch said, 'It's a research station'.

'Yeah: for researching food', Bunny said, to his mind stating the obvious.

'Don't be coy rabbit! You must have known what kinds of things were going on here! Despite what I say, you're not stupid!'

'What 'kinds of things'?' Jack asked.

'The kind of things that even he wouldn't forgive', Pitch said, jabbing a finger at North.

'I do not believe that', North said but then added soothingly, 'I believe you have found something but whatever it is, it is not Bunny's fault'.

Bunny felt agitated.  
During his visits there had been areas he had been denied access to and he, like everyone else on Homeworld had heard the rumours about the colonies. About how they were out of the way for a reason. It rankled him that Pitch of all people may have stumbled into something that was at best shameful and at worst horrific.

'I wanna know if he's got proof', Bunny said, crossing his arms, 'I'm not in the mood for mud slingin' but ya better have some ammo if you're gonna say stuff like that'.

'You want me to prove it?' Pitch asked, 'If we keep twiddling our thumbs like this, I won't have to. Don't tell me with those ears you can't hear something coming!'

'Hear what?' Jack asked.

Bunny raised his ears and focused.  
He could hear Jack and North's slightly elevated heartbeats. Pitch had no heartbeat but gave out a low barely audible hissing sound: a sound imperceptible to human ears but one that Bunny had been trained to identify quickly as shadow magic. Swivelling his ears like a sonar dial, Bunny became suddenly aware of an encroaching sound.  
Similar to Pitch's aura, this was more of a roar and it was moving at an incredible speed.  
It was getting louder.

'He's right', Bunny said, eyes snapping open, 'Everyone find some cover now!'

As a group, they ran for a nearby storehouse.  
Pitch stood at the doorframe, Bunny on the opposite side.  
Jack readied his staff while hiding behind a stack of boxes and North unsheathed his swords.  
Both human spirits could hear the approaching entity now.  
Jack thought it akin to a racecar revving down a race track and it seemed to tear down the silence like a theatre curtain. Then all of a sudden the noise vanished, as if it had been sucked into a vacuum.  
No, it didn't vanish. It was still there but only just.  
The quiet thrumming noise made Jack's teeth itch. North shook his head beside him as if dispelling sleep.  
Jack saw Bunny's ears droop. Made sense Bunny would feel the effect more keenly.  
Pitch appeared unaffected, scanning the sky while being careful to remain hidden.  
Then he shrank back. Glancing over his shoulder he pointed above his head, signalling to North and Jack that the creature was moving over the storehouse.  
Jack saw a red light, like a lighthouse beacon sweep across the area outside the warehouse. It lingered briefly on the stack of barrels but after what seemed like an hour, it moved on, apparently deciding it was not worth investigating. A vast shadow passed over the barrels, bulbous at the front with sinuous tentacles writhing at its rear. Its hide was dark and Jack couldn't tell if it was machine or some kind of alien animal. It seemed to be leaking an oil like liquid that steamed as it dripped from the creature's skin and hit the grass.  
It moved away, picking up speed as it went until it vanished from sight, the gnawing noise disappearing with it.  
'North', Bunny whispered, 'Get that snowglobe ready. We're getting' out of here. Now'.

'What _was_ that?' Jack asked as they materialized back on the deck.

'We need to change the sails', Pitch said abruptly, ignoring Jack's question.

'What position?' North asked, keen to leave the planet and its disquieting atmosphere.

Yetis bustled about, grabbing the barrels the group had transported from the planet and rolling them below decks.

'Not position', Pitch corrected, 'Composition'.

'Meaning?' Bunny prompted.

'I need to change them into nightmare sand'.

The reaction did not surprise Pitch.  
There was a sudden halt of movement and all eyes turned to him.

'Why should we do that?' Bunny asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.  
He knew Pitch had probably had nothing to do with the colony but his request (no, his _order_ ) combined with discovering the colony emptied was bringing up both bad memories and trepidations about the future.

'Because it's our best chance of carrying on with this little errand without being detected'.

'And because that was a Nightmare creature down there', Bunny said, crossing his arms, 'Wasn't it?'

'Technically a probe not a creature', Pitch said, 'It's restricted to the planet'.

'We shouldn't be anywhere near Nightmare space yet', Bunny said, 'Arcadia is at the borders of Pooka space but Nightmares never came near there'.

'What makes you think I know? We have both been away a long time', Pitch said, irritated at Bunny's obsolete musings, 'Things change'.

Bunny scowled at Pitch's blasé acceptance of Nightmare encroachment as well as the unspoken insinuation the Pookas might have had something to do with its presence there.  
Seeing Arcadia had brought the mission into clear focus for Bunny: they could travel all the way to his planet and find nothing or worse, an empty rock.  
As if his people had never even existed!

'Pitch, is this really necessary?' North asked.

'Shadow creatures can smell dreamsand a mile away', Pitch said with a concentrated effort at patience, 'We're very lucky that was just a probe so it didn't sense this vessel. Right now it's like an 'all you can eat' neon sign to real Nightmare ships. If you let me change the sails, they won't sense it and I can help manoeuvre the ship in an emergency'.

'Like a cloaking device', Jack mused, 'After seeing what they did down there, that sounds pretty necessary to me'.

There was a contemplative silence and Bunny sensed all three of his shipmates looking at him, awaiting his response.  
What did they expect him to say?! No?!  
He wished he could say that: the idea of avoiding Nightmares by creating nightmare sand turned his stomach. But if this was just the outskirts of Nightmare space, it was going to become harder to avoid them the further they travelled inward.  
He was forced to content himself with the decision that Pitch creating nightmare sand, while it felt instinctively wrong, was being done for the right reasons.  
He gave a curt nod but said nothing.

'Okay', North acquiesced, detecting no objections, 'You need any help Pitch?'

'No', Pitch said, 'I'm fine by myself'.

He stalked away in the direction of the ship's wheel to get the best vantage point.  
North and Jack exchanged a look and Jack began to trot after Pitch.

'Can I watch?' he asked Pitch as he caught up.

'I said I don't need help', Pitch snapped as he ascended the stairs.

'I'm not helping', Jack said soothingly, 'Just watching'.

Pitch looked at him but upon seeing Jack's honest expression, relented.

'Fine. Just don't touch anything and don't distract me'.

Pitch raised his arms and closed his eyes. He began to form a magical ephemeral connection with the dormant dreams that made up the sails.  
Jack's voice interrupted him.

'Got one question though', Jack said, 'Why did we all feel like that on the planet? We've been around you and never felt that bad before'.

The quiet disgust of Jack's voice bothered Pitch more than it should have.

'I have control over my powers', Pitch said bluntly, 'Now please, I have to concentrate. There's a lot of dreamsand here and only one of me'.

Jack nodded and sat down on the deck, legs crossed beneath him.  
Pitch took a long, deep breath in preparation.  
He knew why Frost, North and the rabbit had felt so unpleasant. What he had said to Jack was true. Being around Tooth had forced him to learn greater control so she did not feel anxious during her visits due to his aura. But there was another reason.  
That planet had been overtaken by nightmare forces and their fearful aura could be felt by most creatures not touched by shadow magic themselves.  
He on the other hand…well, he had been right when he had said there was only one of him.  
He suddenly gave a growl and clenched his fingers to try and break the line of thought.  
Vein like black strands began to appear on the sails like cracks in dry earth.  
As Pitch rotated his wrists these increased in size and thickness, spreading like spilled ink across clean paper. The glittering granules were swallowed as Pitch's powers corrupted the dreamsand, staining it a deep midnight black.  
Despite the effort required, the little train of thought just kept on chugging.

' _You don't feel as bad because I'm not a real Nightmare'_ , Pitch thought sourly, ' _Just a puppet for them. A costume the king decided to wear that grew a mind of its own. I'm alone…but-'_

He was forced to halt the thought to snap the connection between his powers and the sails.  
It was done: all three sails were now under his control.  
He permitted himself a satisfied dusting of the hands as he saw Jack's widened eyes at the display of his power.

' _I'm stronger than they could ever be!_ ' Pitch concluded, mentally commanding the sails to carry on doing what they had been doing before he had changed them.

Bunny felt his stomach twist as he watched the nebulous black sails billowing overhead.  
It worried him that even despite Pitch taking control of part of the ship, the resultant atmosphere the sails now emitted was nowhere near as unpleasant as the atmosphere of the planet had been.  
Would the Nightmares prowling the area be more powerful than Pitch?

'Ya sure about this North?' he asked.

'I am sure I do not want that probe, or something worse, to find us', North said simply.

Bunny nodded.  
The sails were almost invisible now. Almost as if they weren't there at all anymore, swallowed by the darkness…  
North noticed Bunny's disquiet.

'I do not think Pitch had anything to do with that planet Bunny', North said quietly, 'He hid with us remember? That probe may be like him but it is not his friend'.

He clapped Bunny on the back with sudden cheeriness as he said, 'Now come help me make dinner. Hopefully we will find something to keep Jack's stomach settled eh?'

Bunny smiled but as he fell into step behind North, he reflected on the possibility that Pitch was probably hiding a lot of unpleasant things. Or worse, that _his own people_ had been hiding a lot of unpleasant things.  
Neither prospect made him feel any more at ease.


	7. The Graveyard

Jack sat on his bunk, looking at the doll he had taken from the deserted colony.  
He had taken time to clean it up, borrowing the sewing kit from North to re-attach its button eyes and fixing tears in the little green cape that was attached to its shoulders. He was glad he had taken it but felt ill at ease.  
Pitch had found something on the planet: something that didn't belong. Bunny had seemed surprised but Jack wondered what else he might not know about. He had been tempted to ask Pitch more questions but was honestly worried about what he would say. Anytime he tried to mention it to Bunny, Bunny had shut him down. Jack had come to accept that at least Bunny had not been involved in whatever the Pookas had been doing on Arcadia but Bunny was stubbornly refusing to accept Pitch had found anything at all. Then again, Pitch had no proof.  
Jack ran his hands through his hair as he set the doll back on his bunk.  
To make matters worse, the pair of them were at each other's throats again.  
The crew had awoken that morning to find they had drifted far off course. The nightmare sails had changed direction sometime in the night. They found themselves drifting in a graveyard of ships. There were all kinds of vessels drifting amidst a vast field of debris: thankfully the dreamsand ship's shields had repelled any junk that could have damaged or intercepted their flight path. It seemed to have been the site of a fierce space battle between two factions. Bunny had sorrowfully pointed out Pooka ships to Jack: they were colourful and vaguely egg shaped save for their crescent like wings. One was far bigger than the others and was shaped like a massive crescent moon.  
They were the visual antitheses of the other side's ships. These were black and designed like old- timey galleons, sails and all. Jack couldn't help but notice the similarities between their own ship and these hulking monstrosities. North had commented on it saying they looked like the lunar galleons Sandy had given him the designs for when building their craft. Pitch had countered by saying these were Nightmare 'Dream Pirate' galleons: Lunar Empire vessels corrupted by shadow magic. They seemed to have fared little better than the Pookas in the fighting that had occurred: it was impossible to identify a victor or if even any ships had escaped.

Naturally Bunny had blamed Pitch: he had been the one to change the sails, ergo this mess was his fault. Why else would they be travelling through a ship graveyard with ships that showed obvious signs of Nightmare attack? Pitch had countered by saying this was a temporary setback and if he hadn't changed the sails, they would've been eaten by Nightmares by now. North had stepped in and assigned them both unnecessary yet lengthy tasks on opposite ends of the ship, leaving he and Jack free to check on the systems and engine.

'Sails are being pulled, not pushed as they should be', North had mused while checking one of the numerous dials around the ship's wheel.

'Pulled towards what?' Jack had asked.

'Pulled _by_ what'.

North's correction had made Jack's hair stand on end.

'So what do we do about it?'

North had stroked his beard thoughtfully, eyes narrowed as he considered their options.

'We need navigator module of some kind. Like I have on the sleigh'.

'Where do we get one of those?'

North had pointed up to the nearby Pooka vessel. It was the biggest ship in the 'graveyard' and was one of the more intact hulks floating in the dark. Save for some scorch marks on its smooth hull that reminded Jack of black tendrils, it looked relatively stable. The crescent shaped vessel almost seemed to be of organic design, its texture reminiscent of aged wood.

'There', North had said.

'I was afraid you were gonna say that', Jack replied.

Hearing the tell-tale sound of the ship's whistle, Jack leapt off the bed and picked up his staff. It was time for their field trip.

Jack had suggested quietly to North that they leave either Bunny or Pitch behind to keep the peace but North had disagreed. They would need Bunny as he knew how Pooka ships worked and Pitch would be useful should any Nightmares 'rear their ugly heads'. He had been forced to apologise for the remark when he had noticed Pitch standing close enough to have heard it but the fact remained.  
Jack couldn't argue with North's logic but made sure to put himself between his two passive yet feuding shipmates as they stepped out of the snowglobe portal and into the hulk's main docking bay. North had stayed behind to maintain their connection and ensure their own vessel remained somewhat anchored. Pitch had not been able to halt the ship. Whatever magnetic pull was affecting it was also affecting the ship's controls, overriding North's 'all stop' commands. So, North had it drifting in a circle, powerless to halt its movement but also ensuring it did not leave the area.

'Which way to the bridge Bunny?' Jack asked.

Bunny pointed towards a rounded arch leading to a dark corridor. The ship seemed devoid of power save for emergency red globe like lights flashing. Thankfully the life support systems still seemed to be operational so they could leave the protective field of the snowglobe. Pitch didn't need to breathe but Bunny and Jack didn't feel like putting their own abilities to the test.

'That way. Told you, Pooka ships are all designed the same. Once ya know where one bridge is, you know where they all are', Bunny said, taking the lead.

Bunny had chosen to use the snowglobe to materialise in the docking bay as that was the most obvious point of entry. If, against all odds, there were still Pooka crewmembers aboard, they would most likely be more receptive to alien visitors if they came aboard in the same location that regular visitors did.  
Jack had asked why they couldn't just beam to the bridge from their ship but Bunny had brought up the point that the defensive systems may still be operating. If that was the case the bridge would be shielded from any outside teleportations and would vaporise any materialising intruders automatically. It was best not to take the chance and shut the defences down manually while on the Pooka ship. The docking bay and all other areas of the ship would not be shielded: it was designed to help crewmembers escape in case of an emergency.  
As Jack examined scattered debris on the floor and burn marks on the walls, he thought how 'emergency' seemed to be a fitting word.  
The ship was quiet as they walked along the corridor, periodically coming across signs of firefights or struggles. Ashen marks and strange ink like footprints, scratches on the walls, smashed remains of hastily built barricades: none of these points of interest were very comforting.  
Nor was Jack's impending realization.

'Hey', he said but dropped the volume when the other two jumped, alarmed by the sudden sound of his voice, 'Where are…well…'

He rubbed the back of his neck, discomfited, as he tried to figure out a way to diplomatically ask the question on his mind.

'The bodies?' Pitch finished, saving Jack the trouble, 'I'm more curious as to what kind of ship this was'.

Bunny's narrowed eyes signalled Pitch to continue.  
He held up a finger pointed to the ceiling.

'Can you hear it?'

'Hear what?' Bunny asked tersely.

'Moonlight steel', Pitch said, 'I'd know that infernal chiming noise anywhere'.

Bunny showed him the knife he had found on Arcadia safely strapped to his waist as explanation but Pitch shook his head.

'Not that toothpick', he said, 'The noise is too loud. There is an armoury on this ship somewhere and it's full of moonlight steel weapons'.

He turned his attention to one of the ash marks on the wall.

'This is from a moondust bomb', he elaborated, 'Rather heavy ordinance for a civilian vessel'.

'What are you getting at Pitch?' Jack asked, noting Bunny's fingers curling into fists.

'This is a troop transport', Pitch said with distaste.

'So?' Jack asked.

'The Pooka don't have an army', Bunny said coldly, 'Just a planetary defence force. It's part of our treaty with the Lunar Imperium'.

'A treaty you cleverly sidestepped by training your entire population but never calling them an army', Pitch corrected, 'All Pooka are trained as warriors growing up'.

'For discipline!' Bunny snapped, losing patience, 'And for good reason!'

'What reason is that?' Pitch asked, crossing his arms.

'Guys', Jack said cautiously.

He was looking down the corridor. Was it just his imagination, or were the shadows lengthening? _Moving?_  
Neither of his teammates heard him.

'You really need me to spell it out for you?!' Bunny yelled, hands gesturing at the environs, 'Look at this Mr Detective!'

He jabbed a finger at the black footprints and splashes.

'Those are Nightmare traces! They attacked this ship and the crew defended themselves the best they could til the poor buggers had the life sucked out of 'em by those stinkin' monsters!'

'Then where are the bodies?' Pitch repeated, 'You know as well as I do that Nightmares don't take Pooka prisoners!'

'Wait a minute, you sayin' you _don't_ think Nightmares did this! Yer all one big happy family ain't-'

Bunny was silenced by a sudden harsh gust of cold air. Jack punctuated his exerting of his powers by striking the butt of his staff on the floor.

'Guys!' Jack shouted angrily, losing patience, 'Instead of arguing, why don't you ask _them_?!'

All three looked up the corridor.  
Jack had not been imagining things. Shapes were peeling off the shadowed walls of the ship, thin, twisted limbs flexing as they extricated themselves. Pitch and Bunny, both possessed of keen nocturnal eyes, counted twelve collectively.  
Each one stood tall, the pointed ears on top of their heads nearly touching the ceiling. Their eyes had no pupils: lamp-like and empty, they were emanating what looked like pale smoke. They had no weapons that the trio could see but claws protruded from the end of each finger and each toe. The strangest and most unnerving thing about them though was the absence of any other features. Each one looked like a silhouette come to life: pure darkness constrained by a vague outline of a body that was only broken up by their spectral eyes and red mouths that showed black sharpened teeth growing from their black gums.  
They moved slowly and arthritically. It reminded Jack of puppets being walked by a puppeteer: their movements unnatural and jittery as they staggered forwards in a mockery of an advance.  
Despite all their grotesque qualities however, the resemblance between them and Bunny was unmistakable.

'No', Bunny whispered in horror, eyes wide, 'It's impossible'.

'What are they?' Jack asked, raising his staff.

'Fearlings', Pitch answered, 'Corrupted by shadow magic. Mindless slaves'.

Pitch's last words seemed to break through Bunny's impotent fear and sadness. He gave an angry bellow and threw both boomerangs into the crowd. They broke through two of the advancing fearlings, slicing cleanly through their torsos. They wobbled for a moment but seamlessly, their bloodless wounds healed.  
Jack slammed his staff down and a thick carpet of ice began to spread up the corridor. Jagged icicles broke through the floor beneath the fearlings and impaled their large feet. They struggled to free themselves as Jack focused his magic, causing the freezing effect of the ice to creep into the fearlings bodies, locking them in place.

'Are there any other ways to the bridge?' Pitch asked.

Bunny shook his head as he caught his boomerangs.

'No', he said, 'And my boomerangs aren't fast enough to take them all out! They heal too quick! Jack: how ya holdin' up?!'

'Not good', Jack grunted, 'I can't hold 'em for much longer! There's too many!'

'You gonna fight or just stand there?!' Bunny snapped at Pitch who seemed distracted.

'Neither. Or, actually, maybe both', Pitch replied, eyes suddenly flashing as an idea finally took shape, 'Throw them again!'

'What good'll that-' Bunny began but stopped when he saw what Pitch was doing.

He was moving his hands strangely, eyes locked up the corridor. Bunny saw multiple portals beginning to open in the walls surrounding the fearlings.

'Right', Bunny said, comprehension dawning, 'You got it!'

He flung both boomerangs again but this time aimed one at the portal closest to him and the other at a portal above the fearlings. The boomerangs entered their targets and flew out of other portals Pitch had set up. They slashed through the fearlings before passing into other waiting portals, their momentum not having time to slow. The fearlings' healing factor tried to compensate, only for them to be sliced again in a different place.  
Despite his increasing fatigue, Jack smiled in appreciation of the combination of Bunny and Pitch's powers. The fearlings were struggling less now: their escape attempts eclipsed by the pain they were experiencing from Bunny's boomerangs.  
Bunny's mouth was hanging open, baffled and grateful their improvised strategy was working. Pitch gave no sign of any emotion save for concentration, reopening and closing portals as required as he intently watched and forecast the directions that both boomerangs were travelling.  
Jack mentally ordered the ice to melt as the fearlings began to collapse under their own weight, the damage from Pitch and Bunny's relentless onslaught breaking them down into black puddles of gunk. Bunny wiped a hand across his forehead.

'That was close', he said.

'Yeah', Jack said, 'You can stop now Pitch'.

Pitch didn't seem to hear him.  
The boomerangs were increasing in speed as Pitch opened portals faster and faster, the sharpened edges hurtling at the remains of the fearlings with brutal speed. Black liquid flew from their bodies as they were sliced like butcher meat.  
Jack and Bunny exchanged a look.

'Pitch!' Bunny said sharply.

Pitch's head swivelled at Bunny's louder tone. Bunny met Pitch's angry glare unblinking.

'That's enough', he said, 'They're beaten'.

Pitch seemed about to argue but then abruptly dropped his hands. The shadowy portals vanished instantly and Bunny's boomerangs clattered to the floor, the noise echoing uncomfortably as silence resumed.

''One big happy' _what_?' Pitch asked Bunny, bitterly quoting his earlier words back to him.

Bunny looked away and went to retrieve his boomerangs.

'This doesn't make any sense', he said as he lifted them, wiping them clean of black slime, 'These were Pookas'.

'Why is that weird?' Jack asked, walking past Pitch to join Bunny.

Bunny returned his boomerangs to his bandoleer.

'Pookas can't be corrupted by shadow magic', Bunny said, mind racing.

'Why's that?' Jack asked.

Bunny was about to answer but caught himself. Jack saw his eyes flick momentarily to Pitch.

'Tell ya later', Bunny said quietly as he resumed walking towards the bridge, 'Come on'.

Jack followed and after a moment, felt Pitch fall into step behind him.

'Why 'later' Bunny?' Jack pressed, though he already knew the answer.

Bunny did not reply which ironically confirmed Jack's suspicions. Bunny didn't want to tell Jack because Pitch was there. He didn't trust him with the reason Pookas couldn't be corrupted.

'Don't you think you're being a bit unfair?' he asked evenly, 'We're all on the same team'.

'It's fine Jack', Pitch said, 'Pookas like their secrets'.

Bunny stopped dead.

'I know what I saw on that farm planet', Pitch said darkly, 'I don't blame you for keeping quiet about it'.

'I told you', Bunny said without turning around, 'I don't know anything about a lab'.

'I believe you', Pitch said without a trace of mockery or sarcasm.

'Wait-what?' Jack asked, surprised.

Bunny glanced over his shoulder, taken aback himself.

'I just don't know why you're not concerned about it', Pitch shrugged.

'I don't have time to be!' Bunny snapped, 'Or time to argue with you!'

He began to walk again, faster this time, trying subconsciously to escape his racing thoughts.

They reached the bridge ten minutes later without any further altercations.  
As Bunny had suspected, the defence field was operational, the open doorway bathed in a glowing silvery forcefield.  
Pitch gripped his head suddenly and grimaced.

'You okay?' Jack asked.

'More blasted moondust', Pitch snarled, 'It doesn't agree with me'.

Bunny went up to a panel on the wall and placed his hand on an imprint pad. The pad lit up as it scanned his palm and the forcefield gradually faded. The security was not high level: any non-civilian Pooka could have unlocked it. It was designed to keep enemy forces out after all, not the Pookas on board.

Jack went in first, unable to disguise his excitement to see an alien bridge despite the unsettling situation. Pitch waited until Bunny had followed before cautiously walking through the formerly shielded doorway.  
Despite himself, he was impressed.  
The bridge was more akin to a garden than a machine. A pool of water was set into the centre of the room and surrounded by a number of wooden plinths and platforms. Each one was inscribed with runic writing and levers. Some were idly hovering around the room counter clockwise. Looking up, Pitch saw the ceiling was decorated with painted fantastical images of mythical creatures and numerous multi-coloured flowers. It seemed to be unfinished: a large patch of blackness covered the left side of the painting.

'Nice huh?' Jack asked, joining him.

'Intriguing', Pitch admitted, 'Having art on a ship for soldiers'.

In the background, Bunny was pressing numerous buttons and pulling out wooden tabs in some sort of memorised sequence.

'Ya don't have to spend all your time sharpenin' weapons just because you're a warrior', Bunny said, 'It ain't healthy'.

'What are these images?' Pitch asked, 'I recognise the starred eyed wyrm, the garden of Infinity and the cherry blossom maelstrom but-'

'Wait a minute', Bunny interrupted, 'You…you know those stories?'

'Doesn't everyone?' Pitch asked with genuine surprise.

Jack shook his head and shrugged.

'But they're Pooka fairy tales', Bunny said, confusion all over his face, 'How do you know them?'

'I like to read?' Pitch said simply as if it were an obvious response.

Jack burst out laughing at the identical consternated looks on their faces.

'You asking or telling him?' he giggled, 'What's the matter? Upset you might actually have something in common?'

Bunny returned his attention to the monitor.

'Amost done', he said, ignoring Jack, 'Can't take my hands off this while I'm extracting the module so don't touch anything'.

Jack saluted and flew up to the mural for a closer look. What things had Pitch mentioned? A serpent cherry blossoms, a-hand?! Jack yelled as he was suddenly grabbed by a grasping hand from the blackness. It flung him away. Somersaulting in mid-air, he just managed to catch himself before colliding with the floor.

'Jack!' Bunny cried out and made to move.

'No!' Pitch commanded, scythe materializing as he rotated a wrist, 'Get the module!'

Bunny stayed where he was, eyes locked on the mural. Another shape, bigger than the fearlings had been, was crawling away from the brightly painted pictures. As it fell and landed wetly on the floor of the bridge, Jack realised the mural _was_ finished: what they had mistaken for the unfinished part of the picture had actually been the creature now rising from the puddle on the floor.

It was another corrupted Pooka but this one was armoured with dull metal plates protecting its shoulders and chest. Like the fearlings it had no weapons but the claws it was dragging along the floor left impressions in the wooden surface.  
Its eyes were yellow and glowed in the dim light of the room as it analysed Pitch and Jack, its potential opponents.

'Another fearling?' Jack asked.

The creature surprised him by laughing.

'You dare insult me?' it asked in a sibilant, mocking voice, 'I applaud your courage'.

It adopted a stance that Bunny recognised as a Pooka combat opening move. He looked desperately at the orb he was slowly extracting from the console. The navigator module was too fragile to pull move quickly. Even if he tried to put it back it would be too late!

He just had to trust that Pitch and Jack could handle the new enemy until he had extracted and secured the module.

'It's not a fearling', Pitch explained to Jack, 'It's a Nightmare'.

'What's the difference?' Jack asked as he was blindsided by a sudden kick from the Nightmare who had taken advantage of his distraction.  
He swiftly ducked and danced away, taken aback by the creature's speed.

'It doesn't matter', Pitch snarled and sliced at the Nightmare.

It turned to the right but Pitch's blow still sheared through its shoulder, the scythe extending magically to cause the blow.

The creature staggered and touched its shoulder.

'You…you are like me?' it asked incredulously.

Pitch leapt forward and struck again, this time aiming for the Nightmare's head. It ducked but the tip of one of its ears was sliced clean off. It howled in pain and rage and clawed at Pitch but Pitch faded into the ground as a shadow and rematerialized behind it.

'Not quite', he snarled as he raked his scythe across the Nightmare's back.

As the Nightmare fell to its knees, Jack saw his opening and froze the Nightmare's knees to the ship floor. The Nightmare strained but could not break loose. Pitch dissolved his scythe.

Bunny breathed a sigh of relief as he finally extricated the module and carefully placed it inside his bandoleer.

'Time to go?' Jack asked, resisting the Nightmare's attempts to break free. It wasn't easy.

'Hold on', Bunny said before glaring at the Nightmare, 'Tell me what happened here'.

The Nightmare hissed in Bunny's face, its black spit steaming as it hit the floor.

'What's your name?!' Bunny demanded, ignoring the Nightmare's defiance.

'We have no name', it growled, 'We serve'.

'Who do you serve?' Pitch suddenly asked, 'Who ordered this attack?!'

The Nightmare turned its attention to him.

'Traitor!' it snarled, 'We will string you on barbed wire and make necklaces of your teeth!'

'He's just a barrel of laughs isn't he?' Jack grunted, decreasing the temperature of the ice for good measure.

'Last chance', Bunny threatened, 'What happened here?'

The Nightmare groaned in pain as he felt Jack's magic intensifying. It was beginning to creep upwards, towards its chest.

'How did they get to you?! What did they do?!' Bunny yelled, 'Pookas can't be taken over by shadow magic!'

'Not taken over', the Nightmare hissed through gritted, shaking teeth, 'They let us in'.

Bunny drew his moonlight steel dagger. His grip was shaking.

'Let you in?' he asked, 'How?'

The Nightmare smiled evilly at Pitch who glared in return.

'He is not the only traitor around', it cackled.

Bunny made to move but Pitch beat him to it. Neither Jack or Bunny saw him move clearly. It was only when the Nightmare fell backwards dead with its throat cut and they saw the ink like blood on Pitch's fingertips that they realised what had happened.  
Jack lowered his staff. He could tell from the quickly growing pool of blood beneath the Nightmare's neck that Pitch had dealt a fatal blow. Pitch walked forward, coldly looking down at it. The expression in his eyes worried Jack. As Jack saw Bunny readjust his grip on his dagger, he knew Bunny felt the same thing. Pitch's eyes were burning into the Nightmare and he was subtly shaking as if trying to hold something back.

'Mer..cy', the dying shadow gurgled.

Pitch lost control.

He flung himself onto his knees and ripped into the Nightmare's dissolving form like an animal. He gulped down the shadowy substance as he tore into its shoulder, its armour flaking away like dead skin as it expired. Jack saw black ink flowing down Pitch's chin and staining his teeth as he gulped it down, head shaking savagely as he pulled ravenously at the creature. He was focused only on his cannibalistic meal, eyes far away as he snarled.

Jack felt his stomach churning at the sight.  
He was so horrified, he didn't notice Bunny move until Pitch suddenly stopped eating.  
Bunny had grabbed him by the hair and yanked him back from the mess on the floor. As Pitch rounded on him, teeth bared, Bunny held the edge of his dagger to Pitch's throat.  
Pitch shrieked and fell back, throat showing a vivid red burn mark where the dagger had touched his flesh. As he back pedalled, one hand clasped to his throat, his frantic snarling abruptly stopped.  
He blinked and looked around suddenly as if he had just realised where he was.  
He looked at his hands and touched his face, recoiling from the black liquid staining them.  
He slowly and shakily stood, fixing his hair and robe self-consciously.  
Bunny reached into his bandoleer and threw him a clean rag.  
Pitch caught it after a slight fumble and wiped his face and hands. He didn't offer it back to Bunny, instead casting the filthy material aside.

He wouldn't look Bunny or Jack in the eye.

'I know what he said', Bunny said, 'But my people would never work with Nightmares'.

Bunny walked to the pool of water and, kneeling down, retrieved something from its shallow floor. It was a black egg. He tucked it under his arm and with his other hand, took out the snowglobe he had brought for their return to their own ship. He threw it and as the portal materialized, Jack could see the blurred outlines of North and the yetis assembled on their own bridge.

'They're too dangerous', Bunny finished and walked through without another word.

'So, why can't shadow magic corrupt Pookas?' Jack asked.

He and Bunny were swabbing the deck. The ship was still where it had been before the 'away mission' to retrieve the module. North was still in the process of installing it. He had known from the attitude of the returning trio that something had happened and had whisked Pitch away to help him with the sails configuration before Jack could ask him anything.  
They had been swabbing in silence since they had started twenty minutes ago and Jack couldn't contain his questions any longer.

'Because of chocolate', Bunny said, 'Pooka chocolate's nothin' but good magic in a wrapper. It's made by special alchemists on Homeworld and every Pooka eats it at least once every month from when we're born. Shadow magic can't take hold in a body protected that way'.

'Then, how did Candy corrupt you on Valentine's day? Pitch's magic shouldn't have affected you'.

'I said 'Pooka Chocolate', not just chocolate. Earth chocolate's not the same. I haven't had my ration of Pooka chocolate in decades: my immunity's long worn off. Wasn't a good experience'.

'If you guys were so worried about the Nightmares, why not give some of your chocolate to everybody in the galaxy?' Jack asked, 'Make everyone immune'.

'Some of us tried', Bunny said thoughtfully, 'When I last left my planet it was being debated by the elders. Dunno how it turned out'.

'But those soldiers should've had enough to keep them going right?'

'Depends how much they brought with them. Might've been a long voyage'.

They slipped back into a sombre silence for a time until Jack once again, lost patience.

'What happened to Pitch back there?' Jack asked.

'It's what Nightmares do when one of their own gets weak', Bunny said, 'I've seen it before'.

'They…eat each other?' Jack asked, the image of Pitch's gory feasting making him queasy again.

'It's some kinda twisted survival instinct. Stronger ones eat the little 'uns. It's in their nature'.

'You talk about them like they're animals'.

'They practically are'.

'Pitch isn't', Jack said, feeling a slight jab of annoyance at Bunny's dismissive attitude, 'He hates other Nightmares'.

'Maybe. But instinct always wins'.

'That's not his fault-'

'I know!' Bunny said, jamming his mop into the bucket.

He exhaled deeply and held up his hands in apology for his sharp tone.

'That's what worries me Jack', he said, 'I know he's tryin' to change _who_ he _was_ but he can't change _what_ he _is_. I think about him with Tooth and the feelings that come with that and I just think: how long? How long until he hurts her? It may be an accident but it won't change anything. It was hard losing Sandy. I'm not losing another friend because of him'.

'I'm goin' to get more water', Jack said quietly, simultaneously agreeing with Bunny and hating himself for doing so.

He headed down the stairs towards the reservoir but was distracted by the sound of voices. It was Pitch and North in the engine room, talking in muted voices.  
Jack knew he shouldn't eavesdrop but he felt himself almost magnetically drawn to the door, the stress of the day overwhelming his better judgment. The door was closed but Jack could hear them as he knelt down to the keyhole.

North was speaking.

'How are things between you and Tooth?' he asked easily.

'Better', Pitch answered, his voice sounding drained, 'She can spend two hours in my lair now without feeling bad'.

'This is good', North said, 'Told you it would go away if you both kept at it'.

Pitch didn't respond.

'Tell me', North said gently, 'What do you remember of back then? When you were Nightmare King?'

'It's all a blur', Pitch said, frustration creeping into his voice, 'So many emotions all at once: I'm joyous, heartbroken, enraged and all at the same time. I cared nothing about my own sanity or safety. All I cared about was making them pay'.

'Who's they?'

'I think it was the Lunar Imperium at first. Then it was anyone who got in my way'.

'Everyone who was not you?'

'It wasn't just the Nightmares who wanted revenge on the Tsar', Pitch said bitterly, 'It's why he chose Kozmotis Pitchiner as a host to begin with. A willing participant'.

Pitch laughed sourly.

'I know I don't remember the rabbit's planet', he continued, 'I know it was on the agenda but I don't remember how the fight (if there even was one) went. Probably badly if I crashed to Earth like I did'.

'Have Nightmares always attacked their own kind like you say you did today?'

'His fear was too much for me to resist. I lost control'.

There was a period of silence save for a deep sigh from Pitch.

'I scared them didn't I?' he finally asked.

'I think we do not scare easily', North said evenly, 'But I would ask you to try not to do it again?'

'If it does and I don't come back…stop me. It has to be you. Jack wouldn't do it and I don't want the rabbit to do it'.

'How?'

'Don't be naïve. You _know_ how. You were a soldier. Like I was. Or like Kozmotis was'.

North didn't speak but Jack could sense the tension emanating from the room.

'Make it clean and make it quick', Pitch continued, 'No pity. No remorse. No fear'.

'And Tooth?' North asked quietly.

Jack couldn't bear to hear anymore. He moved away from the keyhole and back on quiet feet to the reservoir, trying to freeze the sympathetic tears brewing in his eyes.

Bunny leant heavily on his mop, staring at the Pooka ship high above them.

Reaching into his bandoleer, he withdrew the egg he had taken from the pool. He rotated the top half of it and it clicked open. As he separated the two halves, an image formed between them. It was a 3D image of a tall, strong looking Pooka wearing armour identical to what the Nightmare had been wearing. It was the last recording the ship had of the bridge.

'It's over', the image was saying, 'I've sealed myself in here but it's only a matter of time. They wrecked the escape pods and disabled communications. They're all over the ship. We don't know how they got on board; reports started popping up all over sayin' they were on board then reinforcements showed up. At least we blew those ships outta the sky before they reached Homeworld-gah!'

Bunny saw the soldier wince and grasp his side. He had obviously been wounded at some point.

'I know I'm gonna die here', he continued, face resolute, 'But not in vain. Despite the Nightmares reaching this place, Homeworld endures. At least for now. This is Captain Vervain signing off, location: The Rex-Angora Desolation'.

The recording fizzled out like a dying firework and Bunny closed the egg.  
He put it away, mind racing.

If the soldier had sealed the bridge, how had he been corrupted? The forcefield should have stopped any Nightmares breaking through. And Nightmares didn't just materialize on Pooka ships: they always came in their galleons and boarded through force. They could materialize but they always chose not to. It was too quick. They wanted to make the enemy afraid and what better way to do that than by blasting away at their ships before slowly moving in for the kill? They always had favoured self-satisfaction over proven military tactics.

Had their tactics evolved?  
The corrupted Captain Vervain had mentioned a traitor. Were there enemy forces on Homeworld?!  
The Rex-Angora Desolation.

As Bunny remembered the region Captain Vervain had quoted, his blood ran cold with sudden realization.

That was in Pooka space.  
He was in home territory already.  
And it was infested with Nightmares.


End file.
